The Hanging Tree
by BadLuckCat
Summary: "Protect what is yours from danger." - The Once-ler comes across a problem that he soon realizes that he can't bribe with money or with a free Thneed. And here he thought the Lorax was the only stubborn creature in the whole Truffula forest.
1. Chapter 1: Something That I Want

_A/N: Hello folks! This is my first Lorax fanfiction! Huzzah...I guess. In case some of you are confused this fanfic is based around the time the Once-ler was still cutting down the truffula trees and he rose to fame. So, he still hasn't cut all of them down yet as you will see in this fic. Also it's been a long time since I've written a fanfiction (much less one with an OC) so, sorry if my writing is a little rusty in places. One other thing, each chapter title is going to be a song title from my playlist and this chapter is named after a song from the Tangle soundtrack by Grace Potter. The happy go-lucky attitude that it has kind of contradicts with mood of this chapter...or it could be an intro song to all fun we're going to have...maybe? Kudos to those that can guess where I got the title of this fanfic from. Happy reading._

_**DISCLAIMER!:**_**_ I DON'T OWN ANY OF THE LORAX CHARACTERS! ALL RIGHTS GO TO DR. SEUSS AND ILLUMINATION ENTERTAINMENT!_**

* * *

The Hanging Tree

Chapter 1:

Something That I Want

* * *

As the wind blew through the valley that was home of the truffula trees, it did not ruffle through the usual amount of fluffy pink, orange, red, and yellow tops. To any new viewer to witness the staggering loss of the colorful trees, the land would appear to be bare, dead and it contrasted horribly to the other remaining half that was full of life and bountiful beauty. However, the air surrounding the great forest loomed anxiously as if it were a prisoner waiting to be finished off by its executor.

And within the desilet wasteland loomed an ominous and wickedly twisted building. As it would be, this very place harbored the forest's executioner. Within a grand emerald office lounged the Once-ler in his ridiculously large chair behind his equally ridiculous, spacious, and porcelain white desk. He held a bland, critical expression on his young round face but, he somehow managed an expectant telt to his head as the man in front of him shook nervously in his seat. After a couple minutes of the sweaty-man squirming in his place, the Once-ler finally lost his patience and decided to be the one to cut-to-the-chase. "Mr. Carter-!"

"It's Clark, sir," the man wheezed.

"Whatever." Once-ler dismissed his employee's individuality with a wave of his hand. "You've rigorously requested a meeting with me and now that you have it, you won't address it. What could possibly have you in such a tizzy?"

Taking another deep breath and exhaling to calm his nerves, Mr. Clark finally spoke, "Mr. Once-ler, sir, you might want to have a look at this." He then took out a rolled up map and proceeded to reveal what it showed. "We've been doing some landscaping and research on this land, and we've come across something -um- interesting."

Becoming slightly more engrossed, the Thneed inventor quirked a questioning brow.

"Interesting? What would that be?"

"This," then Mr. Clark soon placed a house replica on a specific area on the map; a place deep within the truffula forest. In the next moment, he placed a few documents in front of the Once-ler.

"What are these?" Once-ler questioned.

"They are mostly tenants and other documents showing proof of ownership of this piece of land," The once-sweating man boxed in the tiny house with a red marker. "They own approximately an acre. And they are the only residents in the entire forest excluding our company."

"And this is what had you so strung up? Surely, this shouldn't be a problem," Once-ler stated as he briefly scanned the file in his hand. He lingered for a while on the owner's description, trying to get a sense of who he was dealing with. "This is merely a slight road bump. Once we wave money and a thneed in their face, I'm sure they'll be more than happy to hand over what is "theirs"."

"How soon do you want a notifier to be sent to inform your offer to the owner?"

"As soon as possible, naturally," then the Once-ler lend back in his chair and popped an unlit cigar in-between his teeth as he smirk confidently.

"Of course, sir," Mr. Clark said and after being told his presence was no longer required, he advanced toward the grand doors. Be as it may before the tireless worker could completely open the door, the Once-ler stopped him for just a moment.

"Oh and make sure you send someone that will get the job done and not cause any more problems for us. It's annoying enough to have the environmentalists breathing down our necks."

"Yes, of course, sir." And with that said, the man left the Once-ler to himself.

Chewing on the end of the cigar, Once-ler brushed the new documents to the side and went to work on other important matters involving his precious thneed products.

The smoke from his lit cigar performed a dangerous dance as it rose higher and higher above the Once-ler's head and his colossal red-velvet chair.

OoOo

Since the smogulous smoke started spreading from the factory, the light of the sun became more and more dense. Still the sun attempted to shine warmly throughout the valley of truffulas and along the blissful peaceness chirped a set of newborn swommee-swan chicks. The humming-fish created their own little hymns as they went about through the streams, while the fuzzy masses of brown fur, the bar-ba-loots, ran amuck with various random activities.

There were only three peculiar things that stuck out around the usual thicket of multi-colored canopies; one of them being a lone gray pack-mule grazing near a pond. The always grouchy mule, or Melvin as he was once called by someone very dear, lifted his head while he thoroughly chewed the grass and peered lazily around his surroundings. However, the sight that had suddenly caught his eye nearly caused him to choke on his cud. A very expensive vehicle maneuvered around each tree trunk and carelessly left debris in the air and ugly tire-tracks on the ground.

Curious as to where this familiarly white vehicle was headed, Melvin raced after it. Eventually, the dust trail ended and the car stopped very short in front of a white picket-fence. Beyond it sat a quaint stone cottage. Cautiously, Melvin stayed hidden as one of the doors to the vehicle opened to reveal a finely dress man in a green suit that vaguely resembled another more successful man's emerald attire. The man had a very slimy look to his features and to anyone they would've probably compared him to a sewer rat with his long nose, beady eyes, and greasy slicked-back hair. He checked himself on the little side mirrors before he went on up to the gate and strolled right into the yard.

Despite the fact that he knocked rather loudly, he did not receive an answer. Becoming slightly perturbed, the man knocked several more times before he spoke.

"Hello, is this the Arbore residents," the rodent-like man hollered in a heavy southern accent. After several seconds, he proceeded to call for the cottage's owner. "Hello, is anyone present at the moment for me to speak with? Hello-!"

"Yes, What? What do you want?" A rather irritated feminine voice bellowed back. He looked about frantically as the source of the voice seemed to be located someplace else around the house.

Quickly, the man rounded the corner to find the yard to still be empty. "Uh-may I ask, miss, as to where you're located at?"

"I'm on the roof," Came her immediate reply.

And as he turned to peer up along the house, he found a ladder leaning against the wall and on top of the roof sat a dark silhouette of a young woman, for the gold glow of the sun was currently blocking her out of view.

"Ah-! That you are," He chuckled to himself as he tried to block out the harsh ray of sun from his eyes with his hand. "Miss, would it be too much to ask if you could please join me down here on the ground?"

Sighing haughtily, she requested in the next second, "Give me a minute, I'm almost finished with cementing my chimney."

Not very long after she stated this, a leg swung over the slope of the roof to join the other and very soon the young woman climbed down to her ladder. When she landed from jumping halfway down the ladder, she straighten upright to finally reveal who she was.

The ratty-man got slightly taken aback by the woman's dirty appearance with cement smeared along her face and her clothes, but most of all her indifference of how she looked confused him. However, he still somehow managed to grace a charming smile on his scumbag face and tried to have his voice drip with temptation and persuasion.

"Why, miss, you are lookin' mighty fine today in your -uh- men's attire," he complimented as he eyed the torn and dirt-stained overalls and the mud caked on her worn yellow hiking boots. "I come from a company that uses these truffula trees for our product called Thneed. Surely, you already know of it, of course." He stopped mid-chuckle when the woman's uncaring expression did not change. Slightly discouraged, he then asked, "Are you Miss Bethany Arbore?"

"Yes." Bethany said and her short answer left no room for any doubt of her identity. "But I mostly go by 'Beth'."

Exhaling heavily through his nose, the man proceeded, "I've been sent by Mr. Once-ler himself, to open up an offer to you involving your land."

"What would he want with it?"

"Why to use it, of course! Mr. Once-ler is very generous in his offer," the suspicious man then lifted up the suitcase that he was carrying and opened it to reveal stacks of money lined up together in every corner of the bag. "for if you agree you will receive 12,000 in cash and a free Thneed."

She stared very intently at what was held before her. Not very long after, she came to ask, "And what will become of my home?"

"That is nothin' for you to worry 'bout."

With that statement Bethany's face hardened into a fierce glare directed towards the Thneed company worker. "No."

"W-what?" Surprised, he stumbled a step back.

"No. I refuse to give up my land to be abused by a factory producing something completely useless."

"The Thneed is not useless! It can be used as a shirt, a sock, a glove, a ha-!" He didn't get to finish his obvious rehearsed defence and advertising, for the young woman interrupted him.

"I have no need for it nor do I want your money. Now get off _my _property!"

For a couple seconds, he stared in disbelief at Bethany Arbore and concluded she belonged in an insane asylum. Snapping the suitcase shut and briskly turning on his heel, the man left without a word and a concerned crease to his brow.

Once the large cloud of dust dissipated, Beth then spotted a curious grey head poking out from around a truffula tree. _'I wonder if the little guy knows that his other half isn't hidden.' _Smiling despite herself, she waved encouragingly for the mule to come closer to her. Melvin only took several reluctant steps but soon he stubbornly stood within only ten feet of Beth's fence. Softly laughing just as a sly smirk graced upon her lips.

"I think I've got something that you might like."

Melvin's ears twitched in interest.

"Just hold on for just a second, I'll be right back." She disappeared around the house and within a couple minutes she reappeared with her hands behind her back. Walking casually past her fence, Beth revealed what she was hiding; a red fruit that fit perfectly in the palm of her hand. Then she crouched low to be on the same level as the mule and stuck out her hand holding the fruit.

"Come on," She cooed. "It's okay."

Anticipation kept the young woman on edge as the mule took a few steps forward. Like any project that she would accomplish, satisfaction coursed through her being as the mule delicately took the fruit from her hand. Once she was sure that the creature would not run off in fear, she petted through his course mane.

Smoothing the hair away from Melvin's eyes, Beth cupped the mule underneath his muzzle. "I wonder where you came from. Did someone just dump you out here?" When she said this, he couldn't help but to flatten his ears against his head. "What horrible person would do such a thing?"

After petting him a couple more times, Beth then straighten back up and turned half way around. The grey mule shifted anxiously and look between the girl and the white gate.

Still having a smug smirk on her face, she sought to sate Melvin's fears, "I have other yummy treats for you to eat if you'd like to come home with me."

At the sound of the promise, Melvin didn't even have to think twice as he trotted ahead of Beth.

"That's what I thought," She chuckled and followed after. Once inside her safe haven, she quietly shut her fence's door behind her.

* * *

_A/N: Also I don't know much about land owning and I did research about it to the best of my ability. btw I have no idea what those red fruit are called. I tried looking it up but I got nothing. So, I'm just going to call them Truffula fruit like in the TV special of The Lorax. _


	2. Chapter 2: Listen to the Rain

_A/N: I'm amazed that I've finished this chapter within a week considering that I have school, excessive amount of homework from my AP classes (AP Chemistry is kicking my butt), and reading all your guys fanfics; the latter is the more fun out of those three things. They're all wonderful btw! Also, each chapter is going to have a quote from some philosophical thing. I've replied to each of your reviews at the end of this chapter. I would normally send you guys a PM but I just don't feel like it. This chapter's title is Evanescence's Listen to the Rain. Love that band. Lots of scene transitions in this one. Happy reading._

_**DISCLAIMER!:**_**_ I DON'T OWN ANY OF THE LORAX CHARACTERS! ALL RIGHTS GO TO DR. SEUSS AND ILLUMINATION ENTERTAINMENT!_**

* * *

The Hanging Tree

Chapter 2:

Listen to the Rain

* * *

_"A child's appetite for new toys appeal to the desire for ownership and appropriation: the appeal of toys comes to lie not in their use but in their status as possessions." Christopher Lasch_

Heavy rain bombarded the valley and halted all the Super-Axe-Hacker machines, which was a complete relief to some but an aggravation to another. A stout creature's usual fluffy orange hair matted together and his damp yellow mustache drooped in front of his face. The Lorax, which is what this strange being was known as, lingered along the line of the Truffula forest. His sharp, grass-green eyes scanned the wasteland of stumps and the swamp of mud.

It was during these times the Lorax would take advantage of the lack of the Super-Axe-Hackers and search for stragglers from the fresh chopping. Finding the bar-ba-loots wasn't a very difficult job; however, the swomee-swans and the humming-fish weren't so easy and required a more thorough search. Although it could not be a livable conditions for them, most of the time the forest critters were stubborn from leaving the area. Once they realized that it did not harbor their food source any longer, they complied and hid deeper in the remaining half of the forest.

Mud clung and splattered all across his fur as the Lorax searched around the stumps. Then, much to his relief, he found a pack of bar-ba-loots huddled together. Hope lit up on their brown, furry faces at the sight of the Lorax. The Lorax gave them a weak smile and delicately held out his hand.

Since the mud that latched on to the bar-ba-loots and the Lorax weighed their feet down, it took a little bit longer to make it back within the forest. Once they made it to their temporary safe haven, the orange fuzz-ball gestured in front of him; indicating for the bar-ba-loots to run a head. Hesitantly, the pack of bar-ba-loots did as they were told, which left the Lorax to continue in his solemn search for the rest of the forest creatures.

Several long drawn out hours later, the once strikingly bright orange Lorax dredged out of the truffula graveyard covered head to toe in dripping mud. The rain still poured with a vengeance and it didn't seem to want to let up anytime soon. It showed no mercy as the Lorax forced his shaking, tired limbs to continue on. He did not truly pay attention to where he was going in the darkness and before he seen it, he ran right into a solid force.

An irritated growl rumbled from his mouth and he rubbed his sore nose. His hand felt about the surface as he walk and observed the curious white wall before him. The wall seemed to not be very ordinary with its very measured and even ridges, and it looked as though it was only a couple inches taller than him. Not very long after, he stumble upon what appeared to be a door. Being the most inquisitive supernatural creature to ever pop out of a truffula stump, the Lorax entered through the door.

OoOo

_'Rain.'_

It had been something that the Once-ler cherished while growing up. Now, he seen it as an unwelcomed nuisance to his company. It always lasted temporarily, of course, but he'd have to wait a couple days for the tufts to dry and the Super-Axe-Hackers had to be placed in storage to avoid rusting from the rain. They always had plenty of harvest to work with for the time being, _'However, there's still the delay.'_ A fowl scowl formed upon his face as his gaze lingered for a couple more seconds on the depressed colorful tops of the truffula trees. Abruptly, he turned away from the grand window.

Long legs kept a steady stride as they trekked through extravagant hallways and descended staircases. Eventually, he made it to the first floor of his Thneed company building. His twin brothers, Brett and Chet, were waiting expectantly near the end of the stairs. They followed the Once-ler as he strode to the front doors. The Once-ler stopped and waited as one of the brothers opened the doors for him.

A clap of thunder greeted him as he walked outside while Chet held an umbrella over the Once-ler's stovepipe top hat to shield him from the offensive rain. His sparkling white limousine - a far contrast compared to his rinky-dink wagon - sat expecting him with a soft hum of the engine. He could not help the smug smirk of being reminded again of his success and wealth.

After Brett opened Once-ler's car door, he slipped into the cozy warmth of his plush seat and within a minute, the car drove off towards his personal metropolis. He had some official business to take care of with some of his engineers about one of his many projects for Thneed-ville.

OoOo

Through a misty arched window, Mr. Clark watched as the Once-ler's mobile drove away. Signing in relief, he looked away from the world outside and instead turned to the busy workers filing away papers and rushing about the place. He returned back to his desk and picked up his phone to dial the number to one of the receptionist desk.

It rang several times before Priscilla answered in her usual snobbish drawl, "Yes, Clark, what do you want this time?"

"Sorry to disturb you once again, but can you please send up Mr. Mantovani to my desk?"

"Yes, he'll be up there in just a second, sir."

"Good. Thank you Priscil-!" Mr. Clark didn't get to finish his sentence before the receptionist hung up on him. Sighing once again but this time in defeat, he place the phone back on the receiver. _'I just don't get any respect around here.'_

In no time at all, Mr. Mantovani came hesitantly through the aisles of lime-green desks and stopped short of the only forest-green desk, Mr. Clark's.

"Good afternoon Mr. Mantovani, please don't hesitate to sit," Mr. Clark smiled warmly at the long-nosed and beady-eyed man who wrung his hands nervously. Soon, Mr. Mantovani took the man's, who was higher up on work status than him, advice and sat in the chair in front of the desk. "I have not received any reports from you or your team of notifiers about the Arbore place. Has a problem arose?"

"Well, Mr. Clark," the rodent-looking man took a deep breath. "Yes, we have ran across a slight 'problem'."

"What is it?"

"Ms. Arbore is refusing to accept anything from us and she is fiercely turning us away. She's not even listening anymore." Mr. Mantovani huffed as he crossed his arms over his chest. "There's no point in going over there. That girl is as stubborn as a mule!"

"It's been a week and a half since I've first sent you. If you haven't removed her from her location there is going to be trouble." Clark rubbed at his eyes in irritation. "I'm glad I called you up here. I have to report this to the Once-ler; he has to know about this or else we're going to run right into her land and that's no good for anyone."

Fervently, Mr. Clark wrote down notes and a letter requesting another meeting with his boss.

OoOo

Light from the morning sun entered into a small, rickety stable as if it were a very close friend. A very pestersome close friend that enjoyed rudely awakening people.

The Lorax opened his eyes but quickly shut them again when the harsh sun blinded him. His small frame sat up from the warm hay that he had made a bed out of and he stretched his limbs awake. Mud from the previous day still remained caked on his fur.

As the Lorax was about to leave the stable, he was halted as a quiet whinny rang out. Glancing behind him, the sight of Melvin's greyish-brown head poked out.

"Good mornin', Melvin. Sorry to have barged in on you last night," The Lorax's gravelly voice acknowledged and gave the mule a friendly smile.

However, Melvin only grunted in reply before he turned his backside to face the Lorax. The orange creature only chuckled lightly at the response.

"I guess I can't win 'em all, huh?"

Then the speaker of the trees, looked about the surrounding area; eyeing the stone cottage, the laundry strung up on a wired line, the vegetable and flower gardens, and that white picket fence he had ran into only yesterday.

"Hmm. Hey Melvin, how did you end up here anyway?" He asked as he turned his head to look at the mule. But instead he came face to face with a completely new furry white face with rectangular pupils. The Lorax gave a short cry as he flailed and stumbled backwards. He landed on his bottom as he gazed up at a billy-goat. In the next moment, the goat roughly shoved her snout in the Lorax's face once again and began sniffing him from head to toe.

"Hey, hey! Stop it you weirdo!" After the Lorax commended this, the goat pulled away from him, leered with her unnatural golden eyes for a moment and then, as if nothing had occurred, walk right over the spiritual guardian. Her bell clanged mockingly as she strode around the house.

"Imagine that, no respect!" The Lorax grumbled and picked himself up off the ground.

He looked down at the drying mud on his hand and quickly sought a way to be rid of the filth. Soon his gaze landed on a wooden water basin filled with clean water. Without a second thought, he marched over to it and hopped right in. The rest of the mud on his body came easily off his fur and bled heavily into the once clean water. When he was all clean, he stepped out of the wooden basin and shook the water off his fur.

Not seeing any need to stick around to be caught by the human that own the house, he slipped away far enough not to be seen but close enough for him to watch for any happenings. He didn't have to wait long though, for a young woman exited out of the back door of the house. She looked down at the water basin and dropped whatever she had been holding. A distraught voice shrieked through the entire woods; causing some swomee-swans to fly away in alarm.

"My clothes!"

OoOo

After a couple days had passed, Mr. Clark found his person sitting once again before his green business-suit clad boss. The Once-ler did not appear all too happy to see Clark's face another time but he tried to force a smile upon his lips.

"Um...hello again, Mr. Once-ler," The employee greeted.

"Good morning," Once-ler replied. "What troubles you this time, Mr. Kirk?"

Inwardly groaning at the misuse of his name, Mr. Clark began, "Do you remember from our last meeting about the piece of land that is own by miss Bethany Arbore?"

The Once-ler rested his chin on his fist and seemed to really try to remember back to a couple weeks ago. Then recognition ignited a spark in his cerulean-blue eyes. "Oh! Yes, I do remember! What about it?"

"Well, you see," -Mr. Carter gulped nervously,- "we have sent several notifiers to meet with miss Bethany Arbore. However, she has refused our offer and she will not give up her land to us."

Surprised, the Once-ler lend back in his ginormous, red velvet chair; a perplexed expression etched about his round features. "But nobody refuses that large sum of money or even a free thneed; not even those crazy, tree-hugging environmentalists."

"What are you going to do, sir?"

After this was inquired, the Once-ler shot a sharp glared at his employee. His chair swiveled slightly as he bolted out of it. Clark watched silently as the young entrepreneur stormed over to his large glass doors and swung one of them opened. Before the green suit wearing man went down the stone stairs, Mr. Clark could vaguely hear the Once-ler mutter to himself, "If you want something done, do it yourself."

* * *

_A/N: I love writing the Lorax scenes. They were the most fun. Just so you all know, I like interacting with my readers. :) Next time I'll try to send you PM's instead of replying on here. _

_Oncie's Sweetheart - Bingo, bingo! You win the prize! Aaaw...sorry, that was cheesy. I watch too much Yu Yu Hakusho. Thank you so much for the review and alert!_

_Le Bijou - Hehe! Somebody has to, besides the Lorax. However, this makes me think of the main arguments that the X-Men and the Brotherhood would often portray; how should you fight for your equility? By aggressive force or by nonviolent, passive protesting? Instead of fighting for equility, its fighting for what is yours...and the trees. However, can you truly own land? The Iroquois have in their Constitution that the land/earth belongs to everyone and we should respect always. Yeah I know, I'm a nerd. Thank you so much for the review and alert!_

_bellechat - You have no idea how excited I was when I seen I got not only a review but also an alert from you! I almost squealed in the middle of my graphic design class. Thank you so much and thanks for the reassurance! Hehe! What Beth fully looks like will be revealed in due time. You just have to wait. However, you get two of her features revealed next chapter to sate some of your curiousity (or maybe it's a slight tease). Though I have actually drawn a picture of her. So if anyone wants to see it, just ask._

_Took-Baggins - Second other person that I got excited over at your review and alert! Thank you so much and thanks for the reassurance! I hope Beth came out as a solid, well thoughtout character. There hasn't been a minute without me thinking about how to develop my OC and this story. I've got it all written down and sometimes, I tend to add things. Anyways, I'll stop rambling now._

_Thank you to all those that have put my story on your alert list or favorites or even just those that stopped by and read this. Thank you so very much._


	3. Chapter 3: The Farmer's Daughter

_A/N: Thanks to all those that had review, put this story on their alerts, on their favorites, or even to those that just stop by. I love all you guys! You're awesome! It's a little bit shorter than usual. This chapter's title is a Rodney Atkins song. I love country music. Happy Reading._

**_DISCLAIMER!:__ I DON'T OWN ANY OF THE LORAX CHARACTERS! ALL RIGHTS GO TO DR. SEUSS AND ILLUMINATION ENTERTAINMENT!_**

* * *

The Hanging Tree

Chapter 3:

The Farmer's Daughter

* * *

_"Behavior is what a man does, not what he thinks, feels, or believes." - Emily Dickinson_

The usual crow of the humming-fish rung throughout the valley. Eyes that were as dark as coal opened sleepily before they screwed shut once again. Sighing irritably, Beth fought against every lazy and tired fiber in her body, and forced her body up from her bed.

Excluding the sudden visits from the 'Thneed' company workers, strange things have been erupting around her modest home recently; causing the girl's lack of sleep. Such things as half of her cartons of goat's milk will be empty, or some of her truffula-fruit harvest would mysteriously go missing or, for example like the other day, her once clean laundry water - that had her clothes soaking in it - had been completely filled with mud! She's been having to recheck things more than twice lately now; this is what caused her to be drowsy in the morning and it's what forced her to place a spare lock on her shed and cellar door.

Lately, Beth started to notice something else very strange. Normally there had been a low number of forest creatures around her home however, a large mob of them seemed to have appeared over night.

Beth rifled through her wardrobe before she came across her usually beat up overalls. Today was going to be another hard working and dirt covered day. She slipped on a black and white striped t-shirt before she tugged on her jean overalls and stuffed her feet and pant's leg in her scruffy hiking boots. Several times, she brushed her choppy hair and lifted it up in a ponytail to avoid it getting in her face.

As she stepped out, the golden glow of the morning sun gleamed softly on the young woman's sunkissed skin. However, she refused to dawdle any more than she had, for daylight was essential to a day's work. She started off with her mental list of the chores of the day. First one on the list was the most important, feeding the animals; which only consisted of her goat, Carlotta, and the estranged mule. However before she could move an inch, she quickly steeled her mind incase those pesterous 'Thneed' advertisers decided to show up after their small break from her.

At the sight of Beth, the animals perked up in interest. They watched expectantly as she drug out the feed bag. Using a tiniest bit of her strength, Beth heaved the bag up in her arms and poured the grain and pellets in the trough. Then she went to the back of the stable in search of a feeding bag. She returned with what she was looking for, then took a small tin cup, scooped up some feed, and half-way filled the bag.

Placing the cup on a nearby shelf, Beth walked towards Melvin with the feeding-bag in hand. She gingerly slipped the bag straps over his head; a satisfied smile tugged at her lips; she was quite proud that the mule didn't back away from her in distrust like he did the other day when she tried to put the feeding-bag around his muzzle. "Atta boy," she encouraged as she briefly ran her hand through his mane and scratched behind his ear. Straightening herself to her full height, she proceeded to untie her restless goat. When Carlotta was free from the restricting rope, she zoomed past and ran head first to the feeding trough. Shaking her head at the sight of her overzealous goat chowing down on her breakfast, Beth soon went about her other business for the day.

Grabbing her gathering basket from the shed and slipping the strap over her head on her shoulder, she then tucked a wooden ladder under her free arm. Journeying past her fence, her boots wandered along the Grickle-grass and soon halted at one of the proud standing truffula trees. Propping the ladder securely against the trunk of the tree, Beth proceeded to climb up towards the colorful tuft. One of her hands came off the bar of the ladder to instead cup around a plump red truffula-fruit. She didn't have to tug very hard before the fruit just snapped right off its stem and then she placed it to settle in the weaved basket.

After going through several other truffula trees and picking their fruit, it became mid-morning when Bethany decided to finish with the harvesting and to move onto a different chore. Beth leaned her ladder on the side of her house and then sat her basket full of the truffula-fruit on the grass as she dug around the front pocket of her overalls. Very soon, she retrieved a bronze key and then unlocked her cellar. At the contents of the cellar, Beth delicately slid the red fruit into a burlap sack. Once completely filled, she moved it to join a couple others.

Above ground, she locked her cellar and left her gathering-basket beside her ladder. She whistled a short tune as she looked about her yard. A familiar clanking of a bell sounded and in the next moment, Carlotta came prancing around the corner of the house, all the while her long ears flopping about.

Pulling the short wooden stool to be directly under as Beth sat waiting as the goat hopped upon the short level table in front of the woman. Ever the hungry creature, Carlotta drove right into the feed bucket that Beth had placed. Taking her warm, wet cloth, Beth massage and cleaned the udder. Then she placed her tin pail underneath Carlotta. She securely wrapped her fingers around the billy's teat and expertly squirt the bit of milk on the ground first before she began to actually fill the bucket with milk.

By harvesting the truffula fruit and selling the goat's milk, Beth made her living. Most of the people in Greenville knew who she was, even if she didn't frequently stroll into town. She only sold her possessions whenever she would need a little money to buy specific items when necessary.

No, she couldn't be any less interested in society.

"Good girl, Carlotta," Beth complimented as she finished up. The goat seemed to preen and melt upon her owner's soothing stroke under her chin.

OoOo

After several hours of trying to find the woman's location, the Once-ler parked the spare worker vehicle far from the isolated cottage. He stared at the quaint home before he stepped out of the car. To a more sentimental person, they would have probably gushed over the simple beauty and obvious care that was built into the house.

Determined steps traveled through the gate and right up to the front door. He knocked briskly on the hardwood. A couple minutes passed but no answer came. Deciding on a new tactic, he began to call for her. "Miss Arbore, Miss Arbore!"

Soon he heard a sudden noise from the other side of the house and he quickly tried to find it. Instead he only came upon the sight of a lazy-eyed goat sniffing through a pile of fallen tools. Suddenly frustrated he searched around the house but it was fruitless. There was no trace of anyone besides the goat that decided to follow him. It also didn't help sustain his irritation when the afternoon heat made his glamorous suit to become overly stuffy. Distractedly, he loosened his tie a bit.

He hummed as he scrutinized what could be defined as the back yard. His blue eyes flickered without a second thought over the stable, shed, and other paraphernalia scattered about the place. However when his gaze came upon the only truffula tree in the enclosed gate, he got slightly curious at the decoration around the lower part of the trunk. Freshly cut flowers in a glass vase and lantern had been placed close to the mossy green base of the tree. He pursed his lips in thought but he decided then not to think about the scene and he turned on his heel.

Venturing near the clothesline, he hooked his index finger around the wire, pulled it down, and then released it with a 'biong!' Beyond the trembling line, loomed another wooden door surrounded by twisted ivy on stone. He ducked low under the wire and stepped near the door.

Hesitantly, his hand wrapped around the bronze door knob and twisted it; the door swung open with ease to reveal a sunlit, spacious room. Once-ler had to remove his incredibly tall hat before he could enter the cottage. He stopped about the middle of the cottage, he took note of that the ceiling dramatically cut off and got higher. Looking behind him, and noticed that a ladder that led up to a loft. As he continued to observe, he concluded that the loft was probably miss Arbore's sleeping quarters. Turning his head to the left of him he notice cooking supplies were neatly organized on a shelf, bags of flour and grain sat against the wall, and wine cabinet.

Before he knew it, he ran right into a table. Scowling sourly and rubbing his sore thigh, he notice a bowl filled with familiar red fruit. He took one in his hand and weighed it easily. Then he turn to look out at the large window to his right to see that the sky was turning pinkish-orange and he wonder how much time had passed since he had arrived here. There still was no sign of the girl but that wasn't a problem, he established.

Pulling the chair out from the table, Once-ler sat down and then crossed his shiny shoe clad feet on Bethany Arbore's table. He could wait. After all, he's been playing the waiting game his entire life.

It grew darker outside and the young entrepreneur's figure just became a silhouette in the darkness and the drumming of his fingers echoed without missing a beat. Then by sheer chance the Once-ler caught a glimpse of a young woman's fleeting back heading towards a stream not too far from her white picket-fence. _'Is that her?'_ His brow knit together as he watch the girl. She dunked two buckets into the river and pretty soon started heading back towards her home.

Within minutes, he seen her pass by her open backdoor with her buckets in hand. However she came back in sight, poking her head in through her door frame and her dark eyes grew to the size of dinner plates. If she hadn't put the buckets down outside, it would have been the second thing that she would have dropped in shock and disbelief that week.

"So you must be Bethany Arbore, yes?" And sense of malicious satisfaction wafted through him when he seen her body stiffen defensively.

* * *

_A/N: CLIFFHANGER!_

_Ugh! I hate describing interior and buildings. So, this chapter was basically filler but it was necessary. This chapter was meant for you guys to get an idea of Beth's every day life. She works from sun up to sun down. I hope the little features I mentioned satisfied you, Belle-Chat, for now. And for those that were expecting her to tell Once-ler what's-what in this chapter, sorry; you're gonna have to wait for the next chapter. Hehehehe... Also for those that are curious as to what Beth's cottage sort of looks like, there's a link to it an image on my profile so, go have a look-cy!  
_

_Now here's a question for you guys that got an OC(s), what would by your character(s)'s theme song or song that describes them? I would like to answer this question next chapter but I just gotta spit it out. Beth's song would be, hands down, Trouble by Pink._

_On another note, I feel quite ashamed right now. I worked completely on this instead of my pile of homework!_


	4. Chapter 4: Candy From A Stranger

_A/N: Hey, hey, hey everybody! Thank you so much guys for the favs, alerts, reviews, or even just stopping by. I know I said this last chapter but I'll say it again. I love you guys! On another note, I couldn't help but giggle the entire time I wrote this. The thing with Once-ler I kept thinking of that one scene from the Godfather: "I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse." XD Chapter title is Candy From a Stranger by Myah Marie and the quote is from my all time favorite movie, The Company of Wolves. Gurh! I can't gush over enough about how much I love that film. I recommend it to all those that are a symbolism and fairy tale nut. Happy reading._

**_DISCLAIMER!: I DON'T OWN ANY OF THE LORAX CHARACTERS! ALL RIGHTS GO TO DR. SEUSS AND ILLUMINATION ENTERTAINMENT!_**

* * *

The Hanging Tree

Chapter 4:

Candy From a Stranger

* * *

_"Little girls, this seem to say / Never stop upon your way / Never trust a stranger friend / No-one knows how it will end / As you're pretty, so be wise / Wolves may lurk in every guise / Now as then, 'tis simple truth / Sweetest tongue has sharpest tooth." - The Company of Wolves_

By the time dusk had decided to lay down its tired head, the Lorax tried to relax comfortably in the stable's sweet smelling hay. He had snuck in, along with several bar-ba-loots and swomee-swans, after the woman had snuffed out the gaslamp. Above the Lorax's cranium, Melvin rested his head on the stable door's edge and huffed a sigh.

It had been a fun day, particularly for the younger forest critters. The fuzzy orange Lorax played amongst them and tried to keep an air of cheeriness around the youngsters. Still the lingering sense of urgency patterned about the frontal lobes of his mind. They didn't linger around the human female's cottage but, instead, they were about a couple miles away. Only when it started getting dark, did they decided to head back to the house and to sleep away in the stable for the night.

His grassy-green eyes drooped lazily as he observe the woman carrying wooden pails full of river water in each hand. After maneuvering around her fence, she sat each one done beside a large basin that she had drag out earlier from her shed. Just as she was about to pour the water into it, she paused in her actions and slowly lowered the bucket back on the ground. Long, blonde eyebrows raised inquisitively as the green eyes that were directly under the brows continued to watch the scene before them. The woman walked backwards towards her backdoor. Her head disappeared beyond the inside of her home and for a brief moment she just stood there in the doorway.

"Hmm...nope, that's not at all strange," The Lorax stated before he rolled on his side to face away from the sight.

OoOo

"Miss Arbore?" At the sound of this mysterious man's voice, Beth got suddenly jolted out of her stupor. Her minnie panic attack turned into full blown rage at the thought of someone breaking into her home and invading her personal space.

Walking slightly farther in, the young woman opened the drawers of one of cabinets and dug around till her hand curled around a small box. Without taking her eyes off the stranger, she struck a match and lit a nearby candle. Using said candle to burnish the many others in her small home, a decent amount of light illuminated the room. This allowed both the entrepreneur and working-girl to scrutinize one another.

Blue eyes critically took in the girl's ripped up denim overalls and the dirt that covered her gardening gloves and other areas on her person. Her ponytail sat lank and her hair was mussed up; sweat lightly glistened on her tan skin and stained through her t-shirt. He couldn't help but wonder if this girl had ever taken a bath before in her entire life.

Just as the woman turned her back to light a candle on a high shelf, the Once-ler irritably proclaimed, "Are you not going to answer me?"

Quick as a whip, Beth rounded on the heel of her foot and her already taut body became more rigid; the noticeable muscles in her shapely arms flexed in tension as she balled her fists at her side. Her eyes seemed to possess a dark brewing storm of barely contained anger and they cut right into what felt like his very soul. In a very indignant voice, Beth inquired, "And what gives you the liberty to begin questioning who I am in my own home that you so obviously have little regard to? Shouldn't I be the one demanding your identity, sir?"

An overwhelming aura of passionate anger emitted from the young woman. The Once-ler began to question if it was a wise idea to venture to this place alone. However, the Once-ler was the kind of man that could be undeterred by people's passionate, justifiable feelings; especially when that person is at a nonthreatening height. To demonstrate his "little regard", the Once-ler took his feet off the table, planted them firmly on the ground, and stood tall in his own looming height.

Beth had to crane her neck to be able to look up to his face as he advanced toward her. A fleeting uneasy feeling dropped like a rock in a body of water; however, she quickly squashed it and she stood defiantly in her spot.

"I'll take your uncivil answer to be a 'yes'." He settled just a few feet from her and equaled her stance. "I've heard quite a bit about how you are discouraging my workers."

It didn't take more than a second for the girl to have recognition perk up her features. "Oh no." She rubbed her temples with her right hand and groaned. "Not you guys again!"

A bit of amusement at the woman's distress bubbled up within the Once-ler, but he kept his poker face well.

"I thought I've finally gotten rid you people!" Beth flung her hands in the air in exasperation.

Chuckling, he continued to rain on this girl's parade. "Heh. Well I'm specifically here to make a final offer with you Miss Arbore."

"Oh really?" A tone of mockery was evident in the woman's voice and crossed her arms over her chest. Underneath her breath she said, "like I haven't heard this one before."

"Yes, really." Impatience was beginning to reform within the Once-ler again as he continued to converse with Beth. "My product, Thneed, is a hot commodity and sales are skyrocketing; it's something that everyone wants, it's something that everyone needs." He paused for a moment when he realized that the woman appeared to not be listening to a word he was saying. Despite this he pushed on. "In order to make this revolutionary items that's able to do thousands, I have to use the tuffs from the Truffula trees."

"You keep using possessive terms. Does that make you the instigator of all these pesterous visits?"

Astonishment punched Once-ler in the face as it just dawned on him that this dirt-covered woman before him did not know who he was. He didn't know whether to be bewildered or annoyed.

"Why, yes. Yes it does." Once-ler said slowly. "I am the one and only inventor of the Thneed and sole owner of the company. My name is Once-ler." He presented her a friendly smile. Hoping that if he tried to soften his features, she might consent to his wishes. "Please understand Miss Arbore. I need to use your entire land for the benefit of my company. I won't even actually remove you of your home; you can still live here while we chop down the Truffula trees."

"Oh I understand"- Once-ler felt relief briefly flow through him, but it was stopped abruptly when he seen the unmovable irate expression on Beth's face.- "but that doesn't mean anything to me."

All pleasantness melted away.

"You're making this exceedingly difficult, Miss Arbore," He practically spat her name as he peered down the bridge of his nose at her like she was a meer bug he was about to squish. "Just accept my offer and we will never bother you again."

"That wouldn't be true because if I did agree, you would still be on my property and you would most likely interfere with my own work." She took a step closer to him, planted her fists on her hips, and stood with a proud straight back. "Have you not considered that I could have possibly been using these trees for my own means of profit?"

"If it's that big of a problem for you, you can always just move out."

"Move out? Move out!" Her nails were starting to cut crescent shaped crevices in her palm and her knuckles were turning white from how tight her fists were becoming. "This is my home! I grew up here! You can't expect me to be willing to give up this place just because you want to make a measly garment. I simply won't! I refuse! Not without a fight!"

And as she balanced on the tips of her toes to attempt to be equal with his height, instead her eyes only became leveled with Once-ler nose, he felt slightly intimidated as he looked down into the girl's snarling face. He looked into her narrowed eyes and he was suddenly reminded of his childhood fear of the dark. But then this feeling was cast aside as anger came charging in on its wild stallion.

He kept his features and voice to be as calm as possible as he then stated, "If this is what you want then so be it. I'll take you on in your little battle but I assure you that you have a very unlikely chance of winning."

Her dark eyes wavered in rage. Without saying another word, Beth dropped down on her flat feet and in the next moment she whistled loudly with two of her fingers. Quickly, she backed out of in front of Once-ler.

The Once-ler leered strangely at Beth for her sudden actions. But his presumptuous gaze increased as he heard a hard rapid patter from outside. Out of the corner of his eye, he seen the woman walking toward her front door. He was so preoccupied watching her open it that he barely heard the sound of hooves against the hardwood floors or the loud clanking of a cowbell, and before he knew it, he felt something solid collide into his midsection. The very wind from his lungs got knocked out of him and he landed haphazardly on the ground before Beth's feet. As he struggled to regain his breath, he painfully looked up at Beth to see her leaning beside the open door with her arms cross.

"I think it's time for you to leave,"- she quirked a sharply arch eyebrow- "Once-ler."

A scowl erupted on the young entrepreneur's face and he shakely picked himself up. Hunched over for having to clutch at his sore abdomen, he gruffly whispered his parting words to the wretched woman. "I'll make you regret this." And like that, he slunk out of the brightly lit house and into the dark Truffula forest to return back to his vehicle to take his self to the factory. His back was met with the slam of her door and it made him jolt forward slightly.

Thankfully, it was a full moon that night so it was easier for him to see. Bitter thoughts circulated about his mind as he trekked back to the white van and he winced as he clamored up to the driver's seat. The two beams of his headlights helped guide him.

OoOo

From afar, the Lorax sprung up from his slumber when he heard a loud crash coming from the human female's house. He eyed it suspiciously and took note of the lit candles in the window and the faint light casting upon the ground from the open front door. Then to his utter surprise, he saw a familiar green clad beanpole lurking out the door. The light on the lawn was quickly cut off when he heard a second deafening bang. Both the orange fuzz-ball and Thneed-inventor flinched.

The Lorax stood up determinedly and then proceeded to venture in the direction that the Once-ler sulked in. Be as it may, the speaker for the trees stopped right in front of the small cottage and looked up at it thoughtfully. He then looked in the direction Once-ler went but instead turned back around to face the house.

* * *

_A/N: I hope you guys that were looking forward to her being all defiant and stuff were satisfied. :) Tell me what you guys think._

_Also I've been wondering this for awhile, so am I the only one out there that thought the Humming-fish sounded like Yoshi from Super Mario Bros.?_


	5. Chapter 5:What Is This Feeling(Loathing)

_A/N: Hey folks! Thanks for the reviews, favorites, following, or even just stopping by to read this. Love you all! This chapter's title is from the musical Wicked. You guys might start seeing a bit of a theme in the chapter titles now. Happy reading._

**_DISCLAIMER!: I DON'T OWN ANY OF THE LORAX CHARACTERS! ALL RIGHTS GO TO DR. SEUSS AND ILLUMINATION ENTERTAINMENT!_**

* * *

The Hanging Tree

Chapter 5:

What is This Feeling (Loathing)

* * *

_"So strong is this propensity of mankind to fall into mutual animosities, that where no substantial occasion presents itself, the most frivolous and 'fanciful distinction have been sufficient to kindle their unfriendly passions and excite their most violent conflicts." - The Federalist 10 by James Madison_

After the initial slam of her front door, Beth heaved out an exhausted sigh. "Can you believe the nerve of that man, Carlotta?" Planting her hands on her hips, she looked down at her goat. Carlotta was currently nibbling on her yellow boots without a care in the world.

Out of the corner of her eye, Beth noticed a black stovepipe hat sitting innocently on her dinner table. She took the hat delicately in her hands to observe the black material and green ribbon wrapped around it.

"This must be his." As she turned it around in her hands several times, she couldn't help but to eye the size critically. "The man's already tall enough, what purpose could he have for this ridiculous thing?" Then she peered down her side to see Carlotta looking expectantly up at her. Beth gave the goat a kind smile. "I don't even know how you made it up there. Excellent jump and aim Carlotta!" She patted said goat's head. If the goat had the ability to grin, she would have done so.

Then Bethany looked back at her open back door. She growled in annoyance at how dark it had became outside. 'Great! Now I have to light the lanterns outside so I'm able to see in the dark!' She left the hat back on her table and soon forgot about it.

Just as Beth made it past the ladder that led up to her loft, the back door crashed shut before her; the swing of the door created a wind that extinguished several of her lit candles. Whirling around to face the other half of her home, the young woman started to hear whining-moan. She cautiously moved back out near her dining table.

Soon, a gruff voice boomed aloud! "You there, girl! I have seen that you were associating with the Once-ler. Heed these words of the guardian of the forest or you will face serious a consequence!" The voice bounced around her and seemed to to not have a distinct location.

"I am not associated with the Once-ler! Listen if you're another one of those 'Thneed' drones then you better get lost, 'cause I got a goat and I ain't afraid to use her!" Her sharp eyes scanned every corner in her house.

"Your threat has no effect on me human. If you value anything then do as I say and - _Ah!_"

And before Beth's eyes, Carlotta drug out a fuzzy little orange creature by his foot. He thrashed about and protested churlishly. "Unhand me, you disrespectful creature!"

Carlotta dropped him directly at the young woman's bare feet. Beth's brow knitted together and her mouth hung slightly agape as the strange being heaved himself off the ground. He stood up straight on his two feet but he still only came to be an inch below her knees.

"What are you?" She inquired in disbelief.

"I am the Lorax," the fuzzy man proclaimed proudly as he puffed out his chest. But when he saw the confused expression plastered on the woman's face, his lips pursed. "I speak for the trees."

This was just too strange. "Uh-huh. And why do the trees need someone to speak for them?"

The Lorax looked at the woman incredulously. "I thought maybe you could have figured that out but I suppose I expected too much from a human." Beth felt her eye twitch as the Lorax went on. "I speak for the trees for they have no tongues."

_'It has to be the most simplest answer.'_

She gave a nervous chuckle before she crouched down to the Lorax's level. "Where are you from, Lorax?"

The orange creature flexed his mouth in a way that made his oversized mustache cockeyed. He gave a 'humph' before he answered, "I'm from a place that cannot be described with using human words."

Cocking a puzzled eyebrow, Beth then asked, "Are there others like you?"

"What a ridiculous question!" The creature gruffly barked.

"It's just only a question. Do you have a problem with answering it?" Beth snidely remarked.

The Lorax squared his shoulders as he quickly regarded her. "You ask a lot of questions."

"And you won't answer my questions."

For several seconds the Lorax and Beth held an unwavering staring contest and neither one refused to back down. To Bethany's surprise, the orange fuzzy creature whooped out an amused laugh. When he was finished, he smirked underneath his mustache and his green eyes scrunched up in upside-down crescents. Amusement and a hint of suspicion was evident in the Lorax's tone, "Mind telling me why Beanpole was here?"

She quirked an eyebrow in question.

"Oh! Eh-sorry, I guess 'Beanpole' is sort of a nickname I had given him. Mainly for how huge that guy is!" He cleared his throat and motioned with his hand for the girl to explain herself.

"Um...well, that was the first time I have ever met the Once-ler," Beth stated. She then crossed her arms over her chest as she sat completely on the ground. "However, I have met some of his employees. They've been hounding me for days now."

The Lorax said, "What could they possibly want from you that they are after?"

An irritated expression flicked on her face in a second and she sighed. "They keep saying that they want to use the trees on my land to make their product 'Thneed'. Heh - whatever that is. Though I doubt he's goin' to be showin' his face around-!"

"You can't give up this land to him!"

Beth jumped slightly at the abrupt command from the Lorax.

"Uh...I wasn't planning on it. So, I guess you don't have to worry." She assured.

Penetrating and questing were what her eyes molded into as she stared at the Lorax. The short and abrasive creature seemed to hold an air of urgency. He walked up to her and looked the girl straight in the eye; green met coal black and they faced off once more.

"Whatever it takes, don't give him this land. Protect it with all you got."

And in that moment, as the Lorax seemed to peer down the bridge of his button nose at her, Beth felt something powerful, something that felt like it was older than time itself, wash over her person. However, it did not feel threatening or malicious in nature; instead it was comforting and warm, but overwhelming at the same time.

"O-okay," Beth agreed breathlessly and when she realized her sudden reaction, she quickly composed herself. "I won't back down."

"Good." He nodded his head in approval before he took back a step and held his hands behind his back. Standing with a straight back, he walked passed Beth towards her back door and gestured for her to follow him. "Follow me, I want to show you something."

Feeling like a broken record, Beth replied again with an, "Okay" and she did follow after the forest guardian. The candle that she grab just before they left her house, glowed brightly in the dark of the night. He led her outside and headed towards her stable. Once there, Beth lit the hanging lantern near the entrance and blew out her candle. She placed the candle in the front pocket of her overalls and lifted the lantern off the hook to instead dangle from her hand. Turning the knob on the lantern to have the light brighten the most of the stable. And what the light uncovered what had been hiding in the dark made Beth gasp in surprise; bar-ba-loots and swome-swans stared back at her with wide curious eyes.

A question was just at the tip of her lips but she could not find her voice. The Lorax could sense this and he proceeded to answered her unvoiced question. "Since the forest is being cut down, the forest creatures are losing their natural habitat. Soon the rest of the forest is going to be gone and they will have to find a new place to live. For now they are being expose to the toxins that the Once-ler's factory is producing. These are just some of them that I have found in the chopped down half."

Beth stared at the animals intensely before she looked down at the ground in thought. Then she looked over at the Lorax who focused on the critters. She looked back up at them, wearing determination on her face. "I'll defend this place. If not just for me then for you."

With that, the Lorax gave a small sad smile.

OoOo

Within the impressively large office of the Once-ler, the man brooded as he did paperwork. His pen glided over the paper slowly as he wrote out his name on something that required his signature. Things felt as though they were moving in slow motion and the day just seemed as though it wouldn't end. The paperwork seemed more tedious to sort through and to read, particularly the ones involving Thneedville.

It was the morning after the Once-ler had met Bethany. Since that night he returned to his factory, he had been in a terrible mood and it only worsened by the fact that he had barely any sleep last night; also the work had doubled since because he decided to take the whole day off to just search for the girl's whereabouts.

The first impression of that woman still burned within the forefront of the Once-ler's mind and he fiercely contemplated over what to do with her. Even now as he tried to concentrate on his work she still stole his focus and fueled his anger. He was determined to kick that girl out and make her realize her horrible mistake. Somehow he had a sudden confidence in winning this little 'battle' with her.

Just as his gloved hand went up to smooth through his black mop of hair, he stopped cold in the process and his cobalt blue eyes widen in startling realization.

_'My...hat.'_

His spidery limbs flailed frantically as he attempted miserably to swirl his chair to the side but it just so happened to be stuck under the edge of the desk. Growling, he pushed the chair backwards and then grinding the heel of his feet into the ground to stop it from going too far. He nearly tripped over his own feet as his long legs got tangled up in each other. However, he eventually made it over to the elegant mirror hanging on his wall. It confirmed that he wasn't hallucinating.

In another desperate attempt to relocate his precious hat, the Once-ler ran like a bat outta hell through his office doors. Running down the hallway, he barely heard his mother yell furiously after him for he had accidently knocked over some of her own paperwork in his haste. A couple workers that he past gazed in awe after him and wondered amongst themselves to what could have excited their eccentric boss. Finally the Once-ler made it to his destination and twisting open the door with such vigor the door knob almost left a dent in the wall.

Once again he almost tumbled over his awkwardly big feet as he completely ransacked his personal sleeping quarters.

"No, no, no, no, _no!_" Once-ler muttered repeatedly to himself.

He strone about his laundry, emptied out his drawers, and demolished his king sized bed mattress, but yet there was no sign of his overly expensive top hat. Devastating dread hit the Once-ler like a cruel slap from his mother. Sitting down on the bottom mattress of his bed, he stared wide eyed at the far wall in front of him and hard thought on the last place he had sat his hat. _'There was no other place besides...'_

Besides the Arbore residence, on the small kitchen table, and with _that_ wretched woman.

A scowl found its way on the Once-ler's lips as he thought of her again. If there had to be any way of getting what rightfully belonged to him, he had to go there and get it. He could always just send someone else to go get it for him but, no, that would only make himself appear cowardly and would earn the girl another step up in their game of dominance. That was not something he would approve of.

Pushing himself off the mattress and standing tall, the young entrepreneur trekked out of his room and through the twisting hallways. Just like yesterday, he didn't inform anyone where he was headed or that he had left the factory. He drove off with the same worker van and followed the same tire tracks from last night. Maneuvering about the trees like a pro, it didn't take as long as it had when he first set out to find the cottage.

He shifted the gear of the vehicle in park. Climbing out, the inventor of the Thneed stared at the cottage once more before he walked towards it and passed through the white fence. Just as he came to the cottage's front door, he stopped his hand from about to knock and thought that there was no point in the attempt.

Then to his satisfaction, he heard a loud splash from around the house. Creeping as stealthy as possible, the Once-ler peeked around the corner of the stone cottage to find the young woman's back facing him. Quickly, he took note of her changed attire of a white tank top that she tucked into her waist high short-shorts. She was kneeling on her knees and seemed to be moving her arms up and down vigorously. Once more, he heard a solid wet _'plop'_ and he concluded that she is attending to her dirty laundry. She gave out a short breath and ran her hands through her disheveled braided hair.

The Once-ler snuck entirely around the corner and stood directly behind the young woman. He waited about a minute before he made his presence known.

"Good morning, Miss Arbore."

Alarmed, the tan girl whirled around so fast that she lost her balance and stumbled into her wash basin. She gave out a short cry as her hand came into contact with the side of the wooden basin, which caused it to flip in the air. Water came splashing down and the basin landed with a harsh thud on top of Bethany's head. Her shirt and the upper half of her pants were soaked and soap suds slowly slid down her arms and shirt. She gave out a frustrated grunt and flung the basin off to the other side of the yard.

"What is your problem!" The young woman screeched in fury and bolted right up to her feet. She resembled much like wild savage woman with how she was practically snarling and her eyes a blazed with white hot anger. "Why did you come back? Did you not have enough harassing me last time?

Trying to keep his ground, though it was exceedingly difficult considering that the woman was more intimidating than usual, the Once-ler placed his hands behind his back and just went straight to business mode. "Given any other circumstance, I would not have returned back here, Miss Arbore. However, it would seem that I had left something here that belongs to me."

Her smoldering stare felt scorching as he tried to keep eye contact. "Give me a second," And with that said, the soaked woman pushed passed him as she disappeared inside her house. Not a minute past when she came out with what the Once-ler held dear to him.

"Hey, careful!" He protested indignantly when she shoved it at him.

"There, you have it. Now leave my property." Beth commanded as she pointed her finger beyond the Once-ler and towards the front of her gate.

The Once-ler scoffed before he said, "As you wish, Miss Arbore." And he replaced the stovepipe hat on his head. Ah! His head felt far too much exposed without it.

As Once-ler left, he didn't look back. But just as he got near the white van, he halted in his steps and looked up at a truffula tree that was directly beside him. His gloved hand smoothed over the bark of the trunk perfectly. Then, when he did look back at the cottage, his brow furrowed and his mouth curved down in thought. "Where exactly does her land end?"

* * *

_A/N: The entire I wrote the first part of Once-ler's part I kept thinking of the beginning of Gaston's song from Beauty and the Beast: "Who does she think she is? That girl has tangled with the wrong man! No one says 'no' to the...Once-ler!" XD Now I dare you guys to make a Gaston parody song of the Once-ler. _


	6. Chapter6:These Boots Are Made For Walkin

_A/N: Hi guys! Thank you to all those that reviewed, favorited, alerted, or even just stopping by to read! Love you all! Any who! I honestly didn't think I could be able to get this posted this weekend. I had a very hectic week at school and I think it's going to get even more chaotic with the first performances coming up. I'm going to get around to your readin' your fics (I'm reading a couple right now). This chapter's title is from Nancy Sinatra's These Boots Are Made for Walkin'. For those that don't personally know me, I'm a huge Frank Sinatra fan and I adore his daughter Nancy. Happy reading._

* * *

The Hanging Tree

Chapter 6:

These Boots Are Made for Walkin'

* * *

_"Nobody can hurt me without my permission." - Mohandas Gandhi_

When the morning sun rose above the horizon, it got overtaken by the menacing smog in the sky. However, that didn't stop people from waking up and heading to work or to school. There especially was no exception for a disgruntled Thneed factory worker like Mr. Clark. Though his tired eyes and exhausted body would like to beg to differ. Still, he could be complemented to be  
a trooper since he had not missed a single day of work, nor was he going to start now. Considering there always was the promise of a fresh mug full of coffee in the morning at work. He gave a half grin of satisfaction as he felt the soothing warmth of the fresh coffee emitting its heat through his cup.

Nevertheless, Mr. Clark's little moment of heaven got interrupted by two familiar faces. He didn't even get to pull his chair out completely before he seen the twin brothers, Chet and Brett, come marching towards his desk. Releasing a deep sigh and placing his unenjoyed cup of coffee on his desk, Mr. Clark stood at attention before the twins stopped in front of him.

"The boss would like to see you." Chet -_ 'or could it be Brett?'_- stated in his hick accent.

"He also wanted you to bring the maps of the woods." The other twin added.

The twins left no room for protests. Mr. Clark trailed behind them (maps in each arm) and left the mug alone on his desk to become cold with bitter loneliness.

No matter the amount of times Mr. Clark walked about these grand halls and came upon the outer office of his boss's, the disturbing shivers that the viper-like Once-ler women were able to erupted throughout his spine. They never said anything to him as he passed but it had to be in the way their watchful gazes would follow him. The blonde with the fox fur scarf wrapped about her shoulders, whom had known was Once-ler's mother, would file her nails like she could be preparing her talons for her prey. Or the other one, round like a purple plum - _'in the nicest of descriptions'_ - with an outrageous bullhorn hairstyle, and a mean pug-face, would be writing things down; but for all he knew it could have been her hit-list. Something didn't feel right among these dames; in fact, the entire family felt this way, except for the Once-ler.

Brett and Chet opened the Once-ler's doors for Mr. Clark and they closed behind him with a boom that sounded like gong signalling his death sentence. He had to stifle a sigh of relief. But then he froze up in apprehension when he seen his boss staring right at him. Forcing a pleasant smile, he came just behind the chair in front of the desk and waited until he was given permission to sit.

Mr. Clark couldn't help but to feel cautious about this sudden meeting. It had become a rare occurrence to sight the inventor of the Thneed. The reasons to his missing presence, Mr. Clark deduced, had to be the mountain of paperwork and numerous easels with blueprints that had sketches of buildings. _'He must have recently met up with the engineers that are constructing Thneedville.'_

A serious expression dominated the Once-ler's entire features and, if you were to ask, Mr. Clark would have commented that the stoic attitude did not seem to suit the young entrepreneur.

The Once-ler then interrupted the clerk's musings. "Did you bring the maps, Mr. Clark?"

"Yes, sir," Clark immediately replied. _'Good morning to you too.'_

"Good. May I please see the one that had Bethany Arbore's location?"

"Um...yes," Mr. Clark obliged and then proceeded to pass the requested rolled up map to his boss.

"No, no. Don't hand it to me. Roll it out on my desk."

"Oh! I'm sorry -um- what about your other papers?" Mr. Clark stuttered and fidget as he attempted to remove the tied string around the paper to unravel it.

"Ignore them." The Once-ler dismissed Mr. Clark's concerns with a wave of his hand. And so, the clerk did as he was told. With a flourishing sweep, the map rolled out and revealed the colorful design of the untouched section of the valley; only a red box the size of an inch stood out to the rest of the map.

"Good, good." Once-ler stroked his chin in thought before he asked, "How far does her land extend?"

"One acre, sir."

"I know that, but where does it begin and where does it end?" A green gloved finger placed itself directly in the middle of the red box on the map.

"Well," Mr. Clark started out slowly. "It should approximately start here." He then placed his own finger on the map, directly an inch from the box. "Her land starts about ten yards from her house but the rest of it goes on behind it."

"Hmm...can you send out some workers to scope out the area to see if there is an object that indicates the barriers?"

"Of course, sir." Clark unsurely stared back his boss's thoughtful face. _'Maybe he's considering going around her land when we come near it.'_

"And once they have discovered where exactly those barriers starts and ends," Striking blue eyes flicked up to gaze at common brown ones. "Send a few choppers with a hauling truck and an axe, and instruct them to only cut down one tree directly in front of those boundaries of the Arbore's land."

Disbelief was evident on the Thneed employee's face. "Mr. Once-ler, if it's alright to ask, why are you doing this?"

A small smile played across the Once-ler's lips as he delicately plucked a cigar out of his drawer, lit it with a shiny gold lighter, and soon took a slow drag of the tobacco. Then he countered with, "Ever done a 'double-dog-dare' when you were young?"

Mr. Clark quickly shut his gaping mouth.

"Oh! And make sure that they take a camera." The Once-ler added and then started to curl the map back up. He tied it with the string that Clark had removed. Handing it back to his stunned worker, Once-ler moved his cigar to the side of his mouth so he could say, "Do you understand, Mr. Clark?"

Shaking his head free of his disbelief and snuffing it down with his professional persona, Mr. Clark grabbed the other end of the map. "Of course I do, sir."

He took back what he said that there seemed to be nothing wrong with the Once-ler.

OoOo

Bethany stepped out from her stone cottage, with a ripe truffula-fruit in hand, and gazed up curiously at the strangely partially cloudy sky. It appeared odd to her since the clouds did not seem to be the normal fluffy white ones or the kind that indicated a storm; instead they looked like they were a sickly green-grey mist that was rolling into overcome the pure white clouds. She took a bite out of the fruit and chewed thoughtfully as she sat on an iron stool in her backyard. Swallowing, then saying as she pointed up at the sky, "What is that? I've never seen somethin' like it before?"

The Lorax halted in his boardgame with a bar-ba-loot cub that Beth had come to know as Pipsqueak. Both creatures looked in the direction her finger had pointed at, but only one had the ability to speak to the human female. Grass-green eyes glossed over with more anxiousness than they had before, "The Meathead's factory is producing the smogulous smoke you see there. Since he's chopping down the trees, they aren't able to do an effective amount to their job of keeping the air clean and they are having to compete against the poison that is being released. It's one of the many things that I've been trying to get across that moron's thick head."

"Is that where you've been for the last couple of days?" The young woman inquired and continued to eat her lunch.

Scoffing, the orange fuzz-ball sternly stopped Pipsqueak from chewing on the black rook of the chess pieces before he answered, "In a way, you could say that. It has been very hard trying to get close to the guy and I've been busy attending to the forest animals. Do you wanna play a round of chess with me?"

"Sure," Beth agreed and gave the rest of the fruit to the bar-ba-loot cub who ran off with a happy grin on his adorable face. Sitting Indian-style on the ground in front of the chess board and across from the Lorax, the girl began to place the pieces back to their appropriate designations. Once she was finished, the black pieces were on her side and the white was on the Lorax's side. "You may go first, Lorax."

"How very kind of you." Taking the offer, furry orange fingers pushed a pawn up two squares. Beth moved her third ebony pawn on the left forward one square.

"How come you are here and not out there trying to stop the Once-ler?"

"I still need to come here to check on the survivors," The Lorax moved his white bishop diagonally to the left. A racking cough erupted out of the forest guardian and he shielded it with his tiny fist. "Things have been getting rather rough lately."

"Hmm...I'm still not all too sure as to what I'm suppose to do to help. Checkmate," Beth snatched the Lorax's white king away with her black knight. "Have you ever played chess before?"

"Eh, I just know the rules and what each piece is called." The Lorax confessed and sheepishly shrugged his shoulders. "You're pretty good."

"Thank you, but I'm nothing compare to my father," Beth then reset the board and then lifted herself off the ground to stand. Her eyes averted over to the one truffula tree in her yard.

"Hey, speaking of your old man, where is-!" The Lorax didn't get to finish his inquiry when he perked up, his head leaning to the side, and his eyes squinting in concentration. He was listening to something. "It appears you have company. Were you expecting anyone?"

"I'm never expecting anyone," was the young woman's immediate answer. "Should I confront them?"

"Do whatever you think is necessary," The Lorax stated and he quickly scooped up Pipsqueak and ushered the other animals out of the fenced in yard. "I trust you."

"Where are you going?" Beth called after him.

"Not very many humans know of my existence and I plan to keep it that way. Only the Once-ler, his family, and you know of me." And with that said, he disappeared into the growth.

"If you plan on stopping the Once-ler, then how can you do that if no one knows of your existence?" She whispered to herself.

Then Bethany Arbore walked around to the front of her home and stopped short of the door to her gate. Beyond her fence, just a couple yards away, she could make out the figures of three men and a large truck. Pushing the gate door open, Beth ventured cautiously towards the strange men.

The burning light of the sun caught and gleamed harshly on the head of an axe. Closing in, she could see it was readied on the shoulder of a brawny man with a briskly beard; the other two men were equal in brawn with the man with the axe.

They seemed to not have noticed her and the one with the axe prepared his swinging arm. A resounding whack silenced the music of the swomme-swans and humming-fish. Beth froze in mid-step as she stared in alarm as the axe bit(1) slammed multiple times into the trunk of the once grand truffula tree. She quickly took several steps back as she watch the tree fall towards her. The purple tuff of the truffula barely grazed her as it landed heavily before her boot clad feet.

At that moment, as Beth stood staring at one of the many new occurrences in her life, the three men jumped at the sudden appearance of the tiny, slender woman. Quickly, a young man with rugged features whipped out a polaroid camera and the flash of the device brought Beth out of her trance. She looked up in sudden indignation. The men shifted their weight awkwardly as she marched right up to them. Hands planted on her hips and her stance strong, unmovable, Beth craned her neck to look up at the tall, muscular men. She had the bravado like that of a lion tamer.

"Why did you do that?" She boldly inquired. "That tree is apart of my property and I don't ever recall giving you my permission to chop it down."

"Um...excuse me, ma'am" - Her charcoal black eyes cut towards the man on the left - "that tree is, in fact, not a part of your property."

Her glare hardened. "Is that so? How?"

"There is a post hundred paces that way," The man pointed to his right and then he maneuvered it to the left. "And another post hundred paces that way as well. Those posts are what indicate how far your land extends and your land does not extend this far. So, once again, no that tree is not your property."

"Well the tree has landed on my property."

"I'm sorry ma'am but we are only doing what we were ordered to do." Then the three men stooped down and hauled the truck of the tree in their chiseled arms.

"Hey, did you not hear what I just said," Frustrated, she followed after them. "That tree had landed in my property so, therefore it has become mine."

After they had settled the tree in the bed of the truck, the man, whom Beth had deemed the spokesperson, puffed out a sigh and turned around to face the girl while the other two tied it down. His ordinary brown eyes formed a sincere apology in their depths as he gazed into the pleasing face of the young woman.

"Ma'am, I'm really sorry about this but I earnestly beg you to comply to the Once-ler's demands before you get in so deep and you can't get out."

This was one of the few times in Bethany's life where she had nothing to say in return. She remained in her place and watched as the pickup truck drove out of her sight. Looking over her shoulder at the stump, she regretted not preventing them from cutting down the tree when she had the chance.

The trek back to her cottage left her plagued with the Thneed company worker's warning. However, it did not make her worried that she was getting into a messy ordeal. Instead she thought of her next course of action.

Soon a light bulb illuminated within her mind. She would have smacked her forehead at her own idiocracy if she wasn't so overcome with determination. Running into her stone house, Beth rummaged through her cabinets and looked about her shelves until she came across a large class jar. Smiling in success, she grabbed both sides of the jar and climbed down from the her wine cabinet. She placed it on her dinner table, unscrewed the lid, then proceeded to pull out the wads of money.

Just as she was counting the amount that she had, the Lorax returned. He jumped up on the chair to watch her sort through the money. Then he asked, "What are you doing."

Frustrated she sighed, "I was countin' money but you made me lose count."

Ignoring the human female's complaint, he then inquired, "What for?"

Beth's eyes looked up at the orange and fuzzy Lorax and wondered how something mythical like him could exist. She had been meaning to ask him how it was possible. Her gaze returned back to the cash in her hands. In the most serious and grim voice the guardian of the forest had ever heard from a human thus far, she stated, "I'm thinking about paying for an attorney."

* * *

_A/N: (1) A bit is the edge of an axe's blade. There are parts of an axe that have a name. Did you know that?_

_The plot is moving forward..._

_To tell the truth, I didn't think Mr. Clark was going to appear this frequent. I think he wormed his way into my heart. Heck! I even drew a picture of him. He-he! He's so unappreciated._

_So October started up. You know what that means? Day of the Dead! No, just kidding. But I'm the type of person that loves to go all out during this month. I love Halloween and I love scary movies. So, out of curiosity, I looked up that Youtube channel called Marble Hornets. I'm on entry 44 right now and I have to say it is pretty creative._

_Reviews make me happy so please do!_

_Also I got a new kitty!_


	7. Chapter 7: Trouble

_A/N: S'up folks! Thanks for all the reviews, favorite, follows, or even just stopping by to read. I love you all, no matter who you are. I had another busy week. Friday, I'd about passed out from exhaustion and frustration. Good news is I got to experience what it is like to be a director. And let me tell ya, it felt exhilarating! Hehe! This chapter's title is from P!nk's Trouble. Happy reading._

**_DISCLAIMER!: I DON'T OWN ANY OF THE LORAX CHARACTERS! ALL RIGHTS GO TO DR. SEUSS AND ILLUMINATION ENTERTAINMENT!_**

* * *

The Hanging Tree

Chapter 7:

Trouble

* * *

_"I have heard there are troubles of more than one kind. Some come from ahead and some come from behind. But I've bought a big bat. I'm all ready you see. Now my troubles are going to have troubles with me!" - Dr. Seuss, 'I Had Trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew'_

There had been two routes that led straight to Greenville from Beth's stone cottage. The shortest route went eastward, stretching about twelve miles apart, and it always take her to the back end of town. Instead the longer path headed north for approximately twenty-eight miles, taking her to the entrance of Greenville. Each journey to the small town had been on foot, but Bethany's father had always promised that one day he would buy a horse or a mule to pull their product wagon, and the further course had been always taken. However for the past couple of years in Beth's life, she had started journeying down the shorter route.

On this particular day, the young woman strode into Greenville with determined steps. A chill mixed in the air as it indicated that the colder season was drawing near. This was the only reason as to why Beth's hands were stuffed into her brown leather coat pockets and her brow bent in grumpiness.

Being about mid afternoon, people were milling about the market place doing their shopping or browsing about. When the first passerby caught a glimpse of Beth, they immediately recognized her and got the person standing beside them and pointed towards her. Within the first couple of minutes, most of the people realized who had walked into Greenville. Most people would gaze about her with pitying glances or try to avoid looking at her; it had been a long while since any of them had seen Bethany.

Bethany didn't have time for the residents of Greenville's sympathy, she had a particular destination she was headed towards. And there was not anything that could prevent her from it. Thankfully, it didn't take her long to find the whereabouts of a law firm. Looking up at the elegant calligraphy embedded on the hanging wooden sign, it read 'Schmitz Law Firm.' There was an unsure hesitance as Beth reached for the door handle but she quickly pushed it to the side, then she entered with a bell ringing signalling a new client.

It felt a lot colder in the firm than it did outside, which made Beth pull her leather coat closer to her body. She looked over at a pretty brunette receptionist who was currently answer a phone call. Gravitating over to the marble desk and watching as the receptionist's ridiculously curly hair bounced as she nodding her head before she hung up the phone, Beth felt her body became stiff when amber-brown eyes settled on her. Bethany had never been much of a people person.

"Can I help you?" The brunette, or Theresa Wiggins as Beth had found out by the name tag on the desk, asked.

Bethany's teeth worked on her bottom lip much like she would with her social anxiety. "Yes. I'm here to meet with an attorney."

"Have you already scheduled a meeting?"

"No, I haven't."

The receptionist sigh softly to herself, then she pulled out a piece of paper and a pen. "Fill this out and return it once you are done."

Then Beth sat down in a plush chair, with paper and pen in hand. Eyes flicking over what had to be sign before she started scratching the pen's ink onto the paper. Once finished, she presented it back to the Theresa Wiggins.

"Thank you. I've contact Mr. Schmitz and he says that he'll meet with you today." Theresa stated as she finished typing on her typewriter. She took the paper in her manicured hands and stood up from her seat. "I'll take this to him right now. You're rather lucky that you were able to get a meeting with him so soon."

Bethany didn't say a word as she watch the other woman walk away down a hallway. Deciding then, Beth sat back down in the waiting lounge. As she reclined in the velvet cushion of the chair, she stuck her left hand in her pocket and rubber fingers over the smooth texture of her money. The amount of money that she had counted had came up to be close to three-thousand dollars and ninety-eight cents. She knew that paying for an attorney and going to court wouldn't be cheap; she just hoped that she had enough. On the other hand, the young woman hoped that she was making the right choice.

Out the corner of her eye, she seen the receptionist return to her desk and seat. "Mr. Schmitz said that he'll meet with you an hour from now." Bethany turned her unwavering gaze on Theresa who pursed her thin lips. "On the paper, it said that your name is Bethany Arbore. My family and I are new to Greenville but I've already heard quite a bit about you and your father. I'm so sor-!"

"Please, don't." Beth demanded. Wiggins's eyes widened in surprise but then they melded into sympathy as she seen the young woman sink lower into her seat as if she were a hermit crab crawling back into its protective shell.

"I didn't mean to upset you." Mrs. Wiggins felt guilt gnawing at her insides. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up."

Bethany remain silent and averted her stormy eyes to the other side of the room. Theresa, being an unintentional people pleasing, looked down at her wristwatch before she said, "Hey, it's lunch time. Have you eaten?" Dark eyes returned to looking at the receptionist and, to the delight of the older woman, Beth shook her head 'no'. "Then let me take you out to lunch as an apology for bringing up such a sensitive subject."

Heels clacked rhythmically against the tiled floor as Mrs. Wiggins advanced toward the young woman.

"Uh...I don't know," mumbled Beth. Then before she knew it, Theresa had a death grip on her upper arm and hauled her up.

"Oh, don't be such a stick-in-the-mud. Come on!" With that said, the brunette dragged the girl out of the law firm.

OoOo

"Thank you gentlemen," chimed the Once-ler. "That was a very delicious meal. I'll be sure to consider your proposal."

Stepping out of a shiny black BMW, the green tailored man stepped out to stand in front of his Thneed factory. He barely acknowledge the sound of a car zooming away in the distance as he walked up to his grand doors of his corporation and entered.

Giddiness bubbled up in of the Once-ler as he practically had skip in his step while he trekked up to his office. It had been a good day for him. A very good business day, at that. He had been able to establish a Thneed store with in, not only a nonlocal town, but a big named city, Solla Sollew; a city that now has to compete with Thneedville once it is finished in construction, which would be very soon. What made it even better had been the fact that he didn't hear a word about that wretched woman, Bethany Arbore. His attitude didn't even fall as he waltz passed his mother's stabbing glare._ 'Seems like she's still upset about what I said earlier.'_

After he walked passed his twin brothers as well when they opened his office doors, he went straight to his pearly desk, put his sunglasses on the top, and plopped down in his big chair. There was a sudden urge to spinning the chair around in circles, but the Once-ler refrained from doing so because he was a grown man and grown men don't do such childish antics; especially serious businessmen. Despite this tiny damper on his glee, he preened in his personal cloud nine.

Until, he jumped in fright and barely muffled a girly scream at the sight of a dark silhouette. It appeared to be stout and it sat on his table to the far corner of the room. Even though its identity was hidden in the shadows, the Once-ler could easily guess who it was. He waited as the shadowed creature jumped down from its perch and walked hesitantly towards the light that revealed his orange fur, yellow bushy mustache, and large grass-green eyes. Cloud nine just crashed and it exploded into a burning heap.

"What do you want this time?" Growled the Once-ler.

"Do you really need to ask, Meathead?" The Lorax countered before he slightly crumbled as a cough broke his speech for a moment.

"If you're going to be vague then I don't want to speak with you today, Mustache." The Once-ler scoffed. Then he snatched a couple papers from a stack and went to make himself appear busy. Working was the only way to shut out the Lorax's annoying complaints.

Not wanting to be ignored, the Lorax climbed onto the desk and stood on top of the entrepreneur's papers. "Stop for just a minute, will ya?"

"Can't you see that I'm busy," The Once-ler seethed. His gloved hands flicked the Lorax on his button nose, causing him to stumble backwards a bit. "I don't have time for your constant ranting. If you have a concern with how things are being runned here, we have a complaint box downstairs at the front entrance with the receptionists."

If the Lorax didn't have such a thick coat of fur, his skin would have redden with anger. "A complaint box! Now you listen here, Beanpole, you have got to stop chopping down the trees right now. You're destroying everything out there."

"Mmhmm..." The Once-ler continued to write on his paperwork with his right hand while his left tangled itself in his mop of black hair. Tuning the gruff and whiney voice of the forest guardian.

"Hey!" Waving his arms around, the Lorax tried getting the human's attention. The young man didn't budge and continued with his work. Before he knew it, the Lorax snatched his pen away. "Now will you listen?"

Icing blue eyes glared down at the Lorax. Even as he was sitting down and the forest guardian standing on the desk, the Once-ler still towered over the creature.

"Not to today, Mustache." Once-ler grinded out. He picked up the orange fuzz-ball by the scruff of his furry neck and walked towards his window doors. Then the man tossed the Lorax out like an unwanted cat and shut the doors. Just as the Lorax turned around to pound his fists on the glass, Once-ler rounded on the heel of his shoe and sternly pointed straight at him.

'Go away,' the entrepreneur mouthed, then he went back to his desk to continue working.

For a second, the Lorax wanted to defy what the human said but instead he grudgingly turned and descended down the stone stairs. His feet took him northward, back to the remainder of the Truffula trees in the valley.

OoOo

The lunch break lasted close to an hour, and during that time Beth had learned quite a bit about Theresa Wiggins. Mrs. Wiggins, along with her devoted husband and five children, had moved to Greenville from a large, successful city called Solla Sollew. Her eldest child had just turned thirteen the other day and her name was Norma. Then to Beth's utter dismay, the conversation turned into something that she dreaded the most. Theresa's husband actually worked in the Thneed factory, making the fluffy, pink, revolutionary product. This being one of the real reasons as to why Mrs. Wiggins' family moved to Greenville; the other having to wait until the construction of Thneedville had finish.

"It was really my Norma's idea to move here. She's not only absolutely crazy over the Once-ler and the Thneed, but she has a weird fascination with the Truffula trees," Stated Theresa while she stabbed her fork into her salad. "When she first heard about the making of Thneedville, she just went on and on about it. Then when we started to actually listen to what she was saying about it, my husband and I started thinking about it, and we decided to move here. Mr. Wiggins got a job with the Thneed factory." She paused to chew and swallow a baby-tomato in her mouth. "Norma keeps saying that Thneedville is the city of accomplished dreams and opportunities. Knowing her, if we didn't already move here, she would have ran away to Thneedville."

Beth kept her mouth and her secrets tightly sealed the entire lunch break.

By the time they made it back to the law firm, Mrs. Wiggins had already talked Bethany's ear off and the younger woman was thankful to finally have some solitude in the quiet firm. However, once they walked into the place, Theresa's chatter immediately ceased and Beth stared in wonder at the man before her. The man wasn't all that much taller than her, but the way he puffed out his chest and squared his shoulders, accompanied with his business suit, gave him the illusion of height. His mustache was like a walrus's and he had one tiny tuft of grey hair on his around head that conflicted with his intimidating approach. Of course, he wasn't all that intimidating to Beth; she's seen a far more frightening man. But this man had an air that command respect and it encouraged others to argue with him to see if they can win or not.

"Mrs. Wiggins," He nodded his head in greeting to his receptionist. Soon his elderly eyes landed on Beth and there seemed to a light of recognition spark up.

Before he could question who she was, Theresa jumped in assistance. "Mr. Schmitz, this is Miss Arbore and is the one that scheduled a meeting with you today."

"Thank you Mrs. Wiggins but the introduction wasn't necessary. I know who this young lady is," spoke Mr. Schmitz. "Miss Arbore, follow me."

So, Beth did. He led her down the hallway to his office. Surprisingly, it was modest compared to the rest of the building. It was average sized and all a monochrome of brown throughout. Shelves of books covered the majority of the walls. His desk was polished mahogany and harbored many fancy writing material and an expensive typewriter. Mr. Schmitz sat down in his wooden office chair and pushed up to his desk to rest his elbows on the top. He laced his long fingers together in front of his face, then he said, "What troubles you today Miss Arbore? If it's your concerns for your father's will then I'm sorry, I'm not the lawyer who is involved in that."

"I'm not here for such superficial matters," Beth felt her anger boil up. "My concerns are on a different motive."

"Is that so?" Schmitz eyes narrowed in at her, trying to find something distrustful in her body language.

However, Beth kept her back straight and her mouth firm with seriousness. "It is so."

"Alright let me hear it," Then the attorney pull out a sheet of paper and plucked one of his writing quills to record the girl's woes.

She took a deep breath before she began, "For the past couple of weeks now, the company called Thneed has been coming to my home and harassing me to give up my land for them to use for their own profit."

"And this is because you live in the Truffula forest, correct?."

"Yes. As of recently, Thneed had sent a couple of men to chop down a tree in front of my property." She paused momentarily which gave Schmitz an opportunity to jump in.

"Did they cut down the tree on your property?"

"No, it was directly in front; passed the boundary posts." A sudden self-consciousness swept over her when she added, "But it landed on my property. Despite my protesting, they took it anyway."

"Hmm..." Mr. Schmitz leaned back in his chair and stroked his mustache as he thought. "Do you know the date of when this all occured?"

"Um...not exactly but I do know it was during the first week of August."

Sighing, Schmitz then said, "I'm sorry miss Arbore but do you know what you are filing for?"

"I'm not sure but certainly you would know where this would fall under," Beth tried to keep her voice steady as she spoke.

Schmitz rubbed his temples. Then he looked into Beth's dark eyes. "I do. It would fall into something called 'eminent domain.' However, that is something that the owner, in this case the Once-ler, would have to file. In your case, you are fighting against it. It is a very tricky and tough thing to fight against, Bethany, and I would be doing you a great favor by telling you to just give up your land to him." Bethany was just about to open her mouth to protest indignantly but Schmitz continues. "But, like everyone else in this town, I knew your father quite well, and you and him seem to be exactly the same in attitude and belief."

"What do we have to do to stop this?" She inquired and her brows knitting together. "I just want to keep my land and home."

"First off, since this is going to be a difficult case, we need to discuss the subject of payment." He twisted his finger in his long mustache. "This will be very expensive. Do you think you have the right amount of money?"

"Name your price!" She confidently commanded.

"Well considering that the amount of hours I'm going to be spending on this case for just trying to get information, it would have to be two hundred an hour. Then whenever we're in court it would have to be nine hundred."

"What?" She yelped incredulously.

Schmitz held up his hands in defense. "Now, now, Miss Arbore, I'm being generous here. Cases like these are expensive and if you go to another lawyer in town then they will charge you wildly. Also I'm not even giving you a fee for this first meeting."

Never wanting to be the one who is defeated in an argument, but Beth could see the reason in Schmitz statement.

"Alright," She complied. "What do we do to prevent my land from being taken."

"I want you to go home and write up all that had happened during the times that they had made contact with you. I will call you when we will have our next meeting."

"I don't have a phone." She looked at him with the straightest face he had ever seen in someone so young.

"Oh, well, let's see." Pulling out his agenda, Schmitz looked through it before he found a free space. "Come back here on the third of next month at three o'clock?"

"I'm sure I can."

"Good," He snapped his planner shut. "Go home and relax. I'll take care of this."

Escorting Beth out of his office, Schmitz bid her goodbye before he shut his door. Feeling awkward, she stood in the hallway before she decided to leave. As she re-entered the waiting lounge, Theresa waved eagerly at Beth and then she went back to work.

It was close to evening when Beth made it back home. Bar-ba-loots, swommee-swans, a couple humming-fish, Melvin and Carlotta perked up when they seen her figure walking down a hill.

When she entered in the gate, she went to the back end of her shed and drugged out the large basin to then place in front of her clothes line. She gathered water, with each batch she boiled in a cauldron, to pour into the basin. As the last bucket of water boiled, Beth went inside her home to grab soap and a towel. Once it was completely filled, she stripped out of her clothes. Sinking down into the nice, hot water, Beth melted into her personal heaven.

Not wanting to waste the rest of the daylight, Beth quickly washed up and got out of the basin. Remaining in her towel as she walked into her house, the young woman climbed up the ladder leading up to her loft. After toweling off her hair, she changed into her nightgown.

Striking a match, then lighting a candle to fight against the coming darkness of the night. She placed her candle in a holder on a lectern. Tonight, she wasn't going to record the occurrences with the Once-ler and his lackeys. Instead, she searched her father's bookshelf for any information on law and the term 'eminent domain.' Surely, he would've had something about it in his collection. Then to her relief, she found a large, thick book that had 'Law' elegantly scribed onto the worn spine. She pulled it out of its place on the shelf.

* * *

_A/N: I don't know much about law and I'm trying to get as much information as I can. My mom has a friend that's an attorney so, she's gonna ask her questions for me. _

_The entire time that I wrote Beth meeting with Mr. Schmitz, I listened to The Little Mermaid's Poor Unfortunate Souls. Hmm...I wonder what that means for Mr. Schmitz character...? :) Hmm...I don't really see Beth as an Ariel._

_Also, Norma got mentioned! And another thing. Should I get a tumblr? I've been thinking about and it does seem rather fun to have._


	8. Chapter 8: Bad Reputation

_A/N: Hey guys! Thanks to all those that reviewed, favorited, or followed! You guys are awesome! I love you all! I've been out for Fall Break so I got to work on this as much as I wanted, though I did go to the zoo and I had a performance that had gotten in the way. Chapter title is from Joan Jett's Bad Reputation. Happy reading! _

**_DISCLAIMER!: I DON'T OWN ANY OF THE LORAX CHARACTERS! ALL RIGHTS GO TO DR. SEUSS AND ILLUMINATION ENTERTAINMENT!_**

* * *

The Hanging Tree

Chapter 8:

Bad Reputation

* * *

_"The woman who follows the crowd will usually go no further than the crowd. The woman who walks alone is likely to find herself in places no one has ever been before." - Albert Einstein_

Ever since the Once-ler had made it big with his revolutionary product, his sleeping schedule had come seriously off balance. Naturally, he had always been a bit of a night owl but never once when he'd stay up late knitting or sketching new ideas would he feel exhausted, drained of all energy. Now, as he would knock his alarm clock off his nightstand, it seemed as though it was a chore for him to get out of bed and get ready for the day.

Before the young entrepreneur pulled his lanky arms through his green suit coat, he peered at his self in the full length mirror. He wasn't sure if it could have been because it was the morning or the lack of sleep that he had gotten the night before, but the large bags under his cobalt eyes made him a bit self-conscious of his appearance. Rubbing his hand down his face, he let out a groan and rolled his eyes skyward. Then he headed towards the door, grabbed his hat off the coat rack, and left.

Walking down the halls, he didn't even have to look about his surroundings for he had memorized the pathway by heart. The grand decor of his factory did not amaze him like it had the first time it was built. He wasn't all too surprised when he walked passed his mother's desk to see she hadn't woke for work that morning or that his elder twin brothers weren't there either. In actuality, it was quite normal for there not to be another soul besides the Once-ler to be up this early in the morning.

As the Once-ler sat down on his red velvet office chair, he went immediately to the work he had paused on before he went to bed. All the finances and payrolls were stacked orderly and expectantly for him to sort through. A couple hours of him reading, writing, and organizing passed by without disturbance. Whoever said that the Once-ler did not work hard had honestly never been around the man.

He smelt the coffee before his mother walked through his doors, with breakfast tray in her hands. Looking up from his work, he held a puzzle curve to his brow. _'Since when has Mom decided to bring me breakfast?_' It seemed as though Isabella Once-ler had her sickly-sweet smile on her thin lips and the Once-ler knew too well something bad was about to come his way.

"Oncie," Her voice dripped with poisonous sweetness in her thick southern accent. There was a resounding clank when she carelessly sat the tray on his desk. "Something peculiar came in the mail for you today."

"If it's love letters or marriage proposals than that's not all too surprising now, Mom," Somehow, the Once-ler always felt like a small child when his mother had that certain tone in her voice; a tone of complete ridicule.

"How very funny, Oncie," She said but the evidence in her body language gave away her lie. Putting her hands behind her back as she then went on to say, "But that is not what was in the mail this time. I'm sure you will find this to be quite _interesting._"

Then Mrs. Once-ler flung an open envelope on the table. Once-ler picked up the envelope and took out the folded paper. He began to read what the letter said. As his cobalt-blue eyes scanned the words, they grew wider in alarm. Once he was finished, he sat the letter next to the tray and stared down at his breakfast in thought. "It seems as though she's playing right along with this as well."

"Excuse me?" Isabella inquired in suspicion. "Is something going on without my knowledge, Oncie?"

"There has been a slight problem that has popped up recently." The Once-ler gave his mother a crooked grin and he twiddled with his thumbs as he explained the dilemma.

"I can see that but why was this kept from me? Do you enjoy keeping secrets from your mama, Oncie?" She pretended to be hurt and turned her face into a pitiful mask.

"No," He denied in guilt.

"Then what has been going on that's got you called to court?"

Blowing out a breath of air, the Once-ler proceeded to explain what was currently occurring. Every little detail that Isabella was hearing made her appear to be more cross. When summed all up, Isabella tried to remain composed in her anger. She looked down at her nails and said in the calmest voice she could muster, "And how are you going to handle this?"

"I will handle it, Mom. Don't worry," desperately said the Once-ler.

"Yes, well I'm sure that this is not goin' to be a very difficult task for you to squash, Oncie," If she was in reaching distance, she could have cupped his cheek in her hand. "It would be so very disappointing to see it put a bad mark on our company."

And with that, his mother left. Once-ler looked down at his breakfast, realizing that he lost all appetite to eat. But then his brow forwarded in agitated thought. Pushing the tray to the side, he began to write his own letter.

OoOo

"Bethany?" A gravely voice called from the first floor of the cottage.

"Yes, Lorax?" Beth answered. Her bed squeaked as she swung her legs to plant her feet on the hardwood floors and walked over to the end of the loft. Not being weary of the considerable height, she peered down at the small orange forest guardian and quirked a blonde eyebrow in question.

"Can you come down here for a minute? I need to ask ya somethin'," The Lorax planted his tiny hands on his hips and seemed to have a very serious turn to his face.

Tucking her law book in the crook of her arm, Beth climbed down the ladder. She met the Lorax and then squatted down to his level. "Okay, what is it?"

"It's about the truffula-fruit. I think it's best that you give your harvest to the forest animals." He stated. He kept his stance steady and ready, as he expected a negative reaction from the female human.

"Give my what?"- The Lorax smirked at his correct prediction. -"If I do that, then I won't have any money for this court thing that I'm doing!"

"Well, I think it's best that you give them back their food source," He said, making it clear that he wasn't going to back down from the argument.

Just then, the little bar-ba-loot, Pipsqueak, walked in the cottage with a very gloomy aura. Seeing his adorable face being so glum tugged a few of Beth's heartstrings. Looking back towards the Lorax, she asked, "Why do you want me to give my entire harvest to them?"

He hid his satisfied smile well when he answered, "There's becoming a low supply of their food now. If you can contribute to their needs it would be one of the most generous actions you can do for them."

Beth closed her eyes in thought. Then she hung her head and sighed. "I feel as though you're already asking too much of me. But I suppose that if it's for the greater good, I'll do whatever I can."

The Lorax smiled up at her when she stood up. "Now," She began to speak again as she turned back to her ladder. "I don't want to be disturbed for the rest of the day. I'm studying something that will help you all." Climbing the ladder, she disappeared into her loft like a bird in her nest. However as she sat on her bed with her large law book in her hands, she rested her chin in the palm of her hand. Her thoughts were a tumultuous speer, making it extremely difficult for her to concentrate on the text before her.

OoOo

Upon the next day, the Once-ler could be found within his city, Thneedville. The construction of Thneedville had been mostly finished where it allowed people to begin living in it. Realty seemed to not be a problem as there were eager people to move into Thneedville. Once-ler waited though for there to be enough homes and buildings for him to give his consumers and supporters the biggest and rarest gift he could give.

He was currently on his way to a recent law firm that had opened up. Heavy research had been done and this new comer, this lawyer person seemed to be the most effective in their line of work. Mr. Brown was this attorney's name and as he meet the man, Once-ler notice immediately that the lawyer lived up to his surname; the balding man wore a brown bowler hat and his entire suit was brown. He was portly, hairy, and short.

His straggly mustache became cockeyed when his mouth moved to the side in thought as he sized up the Once-ler. Then out of nowhere, the shorter man cackled. Mr. Brown patted the young entrepreneur's upper arm as he said, "So, you're the great Once-ler, the million dollar Thneed inventor, I've heard so much about. You need to put a little meat on those bones and, oh my, you're so young and giant! Come one, let's talk about your little problem."

The Once-ler barely caught what was said before he trailed after the eccentric Mr. Brown.

OoOo

Beth travelled into Greenville while leading Melvin behind her. The mule had been very stubborn when she tried to get him to wear his bridle again and to be hitched to the sales cart. Eventually, he gave in when she presented to him several truffula-fruit. In the sales cart, the bell like clanks from the metal milk cans sooth a bit of Beth's jittery nerves.

When the young woman made it about the middle of the market place, she began to set up the cart for business. She stood and waited nearby her cart. Watching the civilians pass by her without a second glance and if they did, they'd nervously tried to avoid eye contact. During this moment, Beth observed the strange new structure of the small town. She had not realized or noticed it before because she had been on a mission on finding a law firm, but now that she had a moment to look, there were multiple stores that had large signs that exclaimed 'Thneed'. Billboards that equaled in size possessed the obnoxious, overbearing print and cartoony illustration of the Once-ler. People all around were wearing the fuzzy pink garment. There were children playing around with it and mothers wrapping their offsprings with the Thneed to keep them from the Fall chill. Everyone went about their business without a care in the world.

Without a care at the fact that the sky was overtaken with the familiar sickly grey smoke in the sky. Something ominous in the way that the clouds loomed in the sky set the young woman off. Beth's brow knitted together and her full lips pursed. _'Papa always said that these people were careless but I didn't think I'd ever see it for myself.'_

Feeling some of her loathing towards the Once-ler at this reminder, she gave a soft groan and leaned against the side of her cart. Her mood darken even further as the hours passed and not a single person came to buy her goats-milk.

All the while she'd hear a commercial jingle ringing out from some nearby radio every time it would break away from the regular flow of music. The only thing that made it grate on her nerves was that it was a diddy for the Thneed. She heard it so much that she caught herself singing it by accident. "...Since the glorious dawn of man / There's never been a thing to do what this thing can / so listen carefully to all the wondrous things a Thneed can be / It's a sock, it's a suit, / boxing glove, parachute, / a butterfly net, reusable diaper, / An exercise belt, a runny nose wiper, / A slingshot, a muzzle, / a jump rope, a hat, / A colorful sweater you put on your cat - wait! What am I doing?"

Soon Beth got tired of waiting and went home. Melvin snorted in annoyance at the fact that he was brought into town for no reason. "That's odd. Usually people would be flocking to get some of Carlotta's goat milk," Beth mumbled to herself.

Then on the following day, Bethany marched back into Greenville. This time as the citizens of Greenville caught sight of her, they avoided contact with her for fear of exciting her anger. She searched the town for its newspaper headquarters, the Greenville Tribune. Eventually finding her way out of the revolving doors, she looked around the lobby. Being a rather small town, Greenville couldn't afford to buy big buildings, so it wasn't much of a surprise for Beth to see the reporters on the same floor as the lobby.

None of the reporters seemed to be in a big rush to print out or find a story, considering that it was Greenville and nothing major ever occurred in this town. Unless you want to count the Once-ler and his Thneed. Besides from the Once-ler, this town mostly had its news circulating around what cow had won at the town fair. But the town's fattest cow was not on Beth's list of concerns. Instead she advanced right up to (what she assumed to be) the secretary.

Said secretary looked up from her typewriter in boredom but after she realized who she was staring at, she seemed to drain of color._ 'Oh, come on! I don't look that mean!'_ Inwardly groaning at this reaction, Beth proceeded to speak, "Is there a reporter that is available? I have a story that needs to get informed to the public."

"Um," the redheaded secretary nervously began. "M-maybe. What is your story?"

"I'm being harassed by the Once-ler and his Thneed company over my land in Truffula Valley," Stated Beth in a matter-of-fact manner. Then to Beth's utter dismay, the secretary gave out a giggle. "What?" She growled.

"Oh! Heh! I'm sorry, but I don't think that's really a problem that can't be easily solved. If you want my advice,-"

"I don't," interrupted Beth.

However, the secretary continued as though she didn't hear Bethany. "-I suggest just giving your land to him. He needs those trees for him to make the Thneed. You shouldn't be selfish and keeping them all to yourself."

"I am not being selfish!" Bethany protested. She planted her hands on the wooden stand and leaned in really close to the secretary's face. "I don't know who you are and I don't really care, but you are absolutely the worst! How can you even say that?"

The secretary recoiled back from Bethany and appeared to be intimidated. "Ma'am, I suggest you leave or I'll call security to assist you to the door."

Huffing out her frustration, Beth left the Greenville Tribune. She then went out to the Greenville community, asking or telling people of her dilemma. Most people treated her tenderly in regards to her past woes but they delicately refused to help her. On the other hand, some people laughed in her face and basically repeated what the secretary at the Tribune had said.

Having her patience wearing thin, the young woman sat down on a park bench. Running her hands through her hair and then down her face, Beth just wanted to go home. Soaking in a warm bath sounded like a great idea too.

Then Bethany felt a weight of another person sitting down next to her. Slowly, the girl turned her head to the side to spy a man. He appeared to be trying to seem casual as he observed his short nails. Peering out of the corner of his eye, the man gave Beth a smirk before he turned to face her completely.

"Hello, I overheard-hey! Wait, don't run off!" The man called after Beth as she got up and walked away. He chased after her and attempted to regain her attention. "Please, don't worry. I'm not a stalker. I work for the Tribune and I overheard what you had said. I want to help get your story out to the public."

"And why should I trust you?" She asked incredulously and quirked an eyebrow.

"Because, unlike everyone else in this town, I can see what is really going on with the Thneed corporation," the reporter said as he suspiciously looked around the area. "And I don't think it's fair that you have to lose your home just so the Greed-ler can make a profit." He looked back at Beth, gave her a smile, and extended his hand out for her to shake. "The name's Pete Briggs, by the way."

She didn't take his hand. Instead, her face remained frozen in its serious mask.

"You're quite the unfriendly person, aren't ya?" He jokingly observed and he smirked again, which made Bethany want to punch him in the face. "Listen, if you're seeking help from the community, don't bother with the common folk of Greenville. There's a small group, an organization of sorts, that will be on your side definitely. They're environmentalists and I'm certain that they'll help you. If you don't contact them, they'll come to you."

"You didn't really answer my question. Why should I trust you?"

"I already said it kid and besides, haven't you realized it? The Once-ler has already sent out some lackeys that are making the Greenville citizens be on his side; he's probably gotten the summons to court. Why else do you think you got turned away from Greenville's only newspaper." Briggs chuckled and continued in his motor mouth rant. "But I suppose that you shouldn't trust me but you know what kid, I'm the only thing ya got. And I'm always on the side of the underdog."

"I don't trust you," Beth stated deadpan-ly, then she turned and left the reporter on his own.

"No need to Bethany! I'm rather good at investigating on my own but whenever I need ya, I'll find ya!" Briggs hollered after her.

OoOo

Back at the Thneed factory, the Once-ler stared down at the picture that his choppers had taken of Bethany Arbore. There was something quite bitterly satisfying seeing the wretched woman's shocked expression forever plastered in this one picture. The only thing that he hoped for the girl to bring to this court battle would be her 'A game.' That fiery spirit of hers would certainly make things interesting. A deviously grinchy smile split onto his face as he schemed out his next step.

* * *

_A/N: Beth is rather helpless when it comes to social activity. _

_I got a tumblr now guys! If you're interested I go by the same username as I do on here. Also pictures of Beth and Mr. Clark are now on my profile if ya want to check 'em out. :) _

_I'm going to bed now... in a bit. _


	9. Chapter 9: Why Don't You Do Right?

_A/N: Yo peeps! Firstly, may all the people who have been tragically caught in the Sandy hurricane, I hope you all are okay and you're safe. Thank you to all those that reviewed, favorited, followed, or even just stopped by to read my little fanfic. Thanks again and I love you all; great and small. So sorry that I didn't update last week. I was just very busy. sarcasticSadism I replied to your review at the bottom of this chapter. This chapter title is from an old jazzy tune that was originally written by Kansas Joe McCoy, covered by Peggy Lee in 1942, and Amy Irving provided the signing voice for Jessica Rabbit from Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Also, I love Bruce Lee. Happy reading. _

**_DISCLAIMER!: I DON'T OWN ANY OF THE LORAX CHARACTERS! ALL RIGHTS GO TO DR. SEUSS AND ILLUMINATION ENTERTAINMENT!_**

* * *

The Hanging Tree

Chapter 9:

Why Don't You Do Right

* * *

_"Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a difficult one." - Bruce Lee_

There had been a time when the Truffula Valley had its colorful trees scattered throughout the land without worry of any threat other than natural disasters. About fifteen years ago, when a very young Bethany sat on her father's lap. Her father had been a very avid reader and he wanted to share this trait with his only child. So it was on this particular night, Gregori Arbore read aloud a fairy tale. Not harboring one feminine bone in his muscular body, Gregori had chose this story of a helpless, pretty princess being saved by her dashing knight because he assumed it would be something a young girl would like to have read to her.

"Once the brave knight vanquished the horrid beast, he climbed up the steps of the tallest tower. It was there that he found the waiting princess by her window. The knight scooped her up in his arms and rode off with her on his gallant steed. When they made it back to the princess's kingdom, the king had been overtaken with so much gratitude. He told the knight he could wed the princess. So, they did and they lived happily ever after. The end."

When Gregori closed the fairy-tale book, he looked down at his daughter's sunkissed face. The sour expression on the little girl's face surprised him greatly.

He asked, "Why, Beth, didn't you like that story?"

Huffing and crossing her tiny arms over her chest, she then proclaimed, "That stupid princess was more than capable to save herself! She didn't need another person to do it."

Gregori's eyes widened but then his face relaxed and he gave a soft chuckle. "And if you were in the princess's situation, what would you do?"

"I would either trick or kill the beast and then I would find a horse to return home." Beth nodded her head and scoffed. "Besides, I'm getting -um- what's that word again, Papa?"

"Annoyed?"

"Yes, annoyed! I'm getting annoyed with all these fairy tales. Isn't there other stories you can read to me?"

Leaning back in his chair, Gregori scratched his stubbly chin. "I do, but I wouldn't know if you would have liked them or not."

"What?" Beth's dark eyes widen in interest.

"It's about pirates, _piccolina(1)_," He gave his daughter a smirk which was met with a big toothy grin from the little girl.

OoOo

Within the stone cottage, things weren't as bright and happy like they use to be. There was no trace of Beth's father. Now fully grown and living all alone in the home she grew up in, Bethany sat at her dining table with an aura of gloominess. The little yellow mug of hot coco rested between her hands and radiated a bit of comforting warmth. When she was younger she would have been jumping up and down with joy at the fact that she'd became another year older. It was a day that now felt like a complete drag as it was a reminder of the amount of time had passed. Also there became the fact that she has to share this day with her first hearing in court.

Two weeks have passed since her first attempt to get the Greenville community on her side. She had ventured back into town several more times but no one would listen to a word she'd say. Of course she's ran into that Pete Briggs fellow on more than one occasion. He'd spastically shown her a couple of newspaper articles that contained hers and the Once-ler's dispute. Barely having a moment to have the feeling of dread sink into her system, Pete immediately tried to extract her information and point of view of the situation. She tried to ignore him for the rest of the week. Then there were her meetings with Mr. Schmitz. His high price demands are eating up her money. It didn't help that nobody was buying her goat's milk; if she didn't think of something quick, she's going to become completely broke.

Sighing and running her hands through her shoulder length hair, Beth drank the last of her hot coco. She took it over to her cooking counter and placed it there for her to wash later. Her leather coat fit snuggly around her frame after she went over to the wall coat rack. Briefly, she looked over her attire; she hoped cowboy boots, jeans, and a red thermal would be okay for court.

Opening her front door allowed a gust of merciless wind to assault her right in the face and to chill her to the bone. A fierce shiver vibrated through her before she stepped out of her house. There is no backing down from her, no sir.

Though Beth did look back at her house and when she did, she seen Pipsqueak hanging around her fence. The little bar-ba-loot waved at her retreating figure.

OoOo

Stumps of the truffula trees were passed in a whirl. The Once-ler sat in his fancy white limo and held his chin in the palm of his hand as he leaned his elbow against the window pane. He thought hard and tried to predict the outcome of this court meeting. Never actually being to court before, it left him feeling a bit nervous and unsure. However, he tried to make himself seems are confident as possible.

Taking his watch out of his pocket, he flipped it opened to reveal the time. It was exactly nine o'clock but the hearing didn't begin until ten. The Once-ler shrugged his shoulders and placed his watch back to his coat pocket. It's better to be extremely early than to be late.

Barely noticing when they first entered the town of Greenville, so when the limo parked in front of the town hall, he ended up landing face first into the empty chair seat across from him. "Ooow..." moaned the Once-ler as he rubbed his sore button nose. He glared over to the other end of the car when he heard a bit of giggling from his family. They tried to stifle their laughter and avoided his cutting eyes.

Pulling his person off the floor of the car, adjusting his green suit coat and stovepipe hat, the Once-ler then stepped out of his expensive limo. After he came completely out of his vehicle, he stared up at the courthouse as he waited for the rest of his family to join his side. As he turned to face them he was still a little surprised that they all wanted to come to court with him, but it felt awfully nice to think that they cared that much to support him.

When the Once-ler and his family began to walk up the steps of Greenville City Hall, the young entrepreneur heard someone address him. He stopped mid-step and turned to see who it was. To his irritation it was a group of people that he became all too familiar with since he began his business; the very whiney environmentalists and the nosy reporters. The environmentalists had their "warrior" faces on and the majority had several different flowers embedded into their hair or clothing. The Once-ler sometimes wondered if the tree-huggers really believed that they were making a difference; they only look like hypocrites as more than a couple wore thneed either around their necks or as a coat. Then there was the press that surrounded the area. The reporters shouted at him with interrogating questions and flashing cameras at him. He presented them a smile and waved at them before he entered the courthouse.

The Once-ler met up with his attorney, Mr. Brown. Smiling kindly at the Thneed inventor, Mr. Brown led Once-ler and his family down to the courtroom. The pudgy little man talked animatedly about what he would address during this hearing.

They sat outside of the courtroom and then waited for them to be called for their scheduled meeting.

OoOo

Boot clad feet ran along the sidewalk of Greenville. Bethany was just hurrying along into the town square as she quickly realized the time. Getting close to 9:50, Beth ran at a breakneck speed to the location of City Hall. The mob of people before the courthouse building came into view. They all crowded around the steps and were being blocked off by several of the town officers.

_'Don't these people have anything else interesting in their lives?'_ Beth thought as she tried to push past them. Eventually, she made it to the front and she got one of the officers attention.

"Excuse me," She breathed out as she panted. "I need to get in there. I have a court hearing to attend to."

Before Beth knew it, several people in the crowd turned to look at her.

"It's her! It's that Arbore girl that's going against the Once-ler!" Some random person in the crowd shouted.

A swarm of reporters gathered around the poor farm girl. Being the kind of people that weren't concerned about others' personal boundaries, they stuck their recorders and microphones into her face. Their tumultuous questioning was so jumbled together that Beth barely understood what was said. Though Beth vaguely caught questions that were shouted, "what are your thoughts on the Once-ler's Thneed factory," or "why do you not want to give up your land," or "are you hiding something?" She even heard someone inquire about her father, "what do you think your father would have done in this situation?" A lady reporter called off from the side said that she wasn't even from Greenville but instead a different town twenty miles away.

Bethany couldn't take this crazy mess any more. Then, she felt a pair of hands wrap around her upper arms and pull her off to the side. The young woman came face to face with Mrs. Wiggins. Beth gave the older woman a grateful smile.

"There's no time to dawdle Miss Bethany, "Theresa stated as she quickly dragged Beth away from the oppressing mob and down the courthouse hallway. "Mr. Schmitz is waiting on you at this very minute."

They skipped stairs as the two women climbed to the second floor. Speed walking along side the bouncy brunette, Beth asked her, "How come you're here?"

Theresa gave a flighty laugh before she replied, "Oh I came to support you, dear. I asked Mr. Schmitz and he allowed me a day off to come here."

"You didn't have to do that," mumbled Beth.

The pretty receptionist looked over at Beth. She regarded the girl's unladylike attire, lack of makeup, and wild hair. _'Has she never been around another woman for most of her life?_' Then she stopped in her speed-walk and so did Beth as she turned to look at her bewildered. Placing a hand on the younger woman's shoulder, she answered in a sweet as honey tone, that any loving mother would have, "I wanted to Bethany. Now, we must hurry. We're already late enough and we don't want that to be the judge's first impression, do we?" So with that, Theresa grabbed Beth's hand and rushed back to the courtroom.

As they entered, Bethany's mouth dropped open in surprise. The pews were packed with people and, as embarrassing as it would be, they all turned to see who had just arrived. Her eyes looked ahead to see the judge's stern face. _'Judge Waterloo was his name from what Schmitz told me,'_ Beth thought.

Looking to the right of the room where the defendant tables were located, and she seen that all too recognizable tall slim man. 'The Once-ler,' her mind whispered in distaste. She felt the burning anger coil in the pit of her stomach. She followed behind Mrs. Wiggins and she quickly fixed her appearance to be unafraid.

Consequently for her tardiness, judge Waterloo proceeded to scold, "Miss Arbore, it is completely necessary for you to be punctual. If you continue to waste everyone's time then your case shouldn't even be bothered with."

Despite Beth's pride, she apologized. Her voice just loud enough for the judge and other people close by to hear. "I'm sorry, it won't happen again."

Mrs. Wiggins glanced sympathetically towards Beth, but she returned back to the pews to sit with the rest of the other observers. Awkwardly, Beth looked over at Mr. Schmitz and tried to look casual as she stiffly walked over to the seat next to him. The elderly attorney didn't look too pleased when the young woman peered at him out of the corner of her eye. However, she dared not to look over at the Once-ler's table; he'd probably had a smirk resting amusedly on his lips.

_'Smug bastard,'_ she thought with all the loathing she possessed in her heart.

Now that all the waiting had finally came to an end, the court hearing began.

* * *

_A/N: piccolina(1): It is an Italian term of endearment, which means 'little one'. I suggest looking up Italian terms of endearment. They're quite funny. _

_This chapter was originally intended to be a lot longer and I wanted it to head straight into the court hearing but I'm far too busy at the moment. I didn't want to leave you guys hanging for too long(even though this felt like filler to me). Btw, I'm still doing research over this whole court and law thing. *sigh* There is a reason as to why I don't want to be a lawyer. _

_sarcasticSadism: Thank you for the review and yeah, I love those kind of OC's too; just as long as people provide personality and dept to their characters. No I did not know that song before you had mentioned it (but I did know of Lily Allen). But now that I do, I love that song and it does seem to fit Beth! Hehe! She's so brash. I added it to my Hanging Tree playlist (yeah, I know. I'm a dork). Now I wish I was confident in my song writing abilities then I would write a song for Beth. Thank you once again! :) I hope you enjoyed this chapter._


	10. Chapter 10: Me Against The World

_A/N: Welcome back again! Thank you to all those that reviewed, favorited, followed, or just stopped by to read. I love you all as much as I love cheesecake and that's a lot of love. Lots of talking in this chapter but lots of plot points are present. I wonder if you all are able to spot 'em. This chapter's title is Superchic[k]'s Me Against The World. Happy reading._

_****__DISCLAIMER!: I DON'T OWN ANY OF THE LORAX CHARACTERS! ALL RIGHTS GO TO DR. SEUSS AND ILLUMINATION ENTERTAINMENT!_

* * *

The Hanging Tree

Chapter 10:

Me Against The World

* * *

_"I see a woman may be made a fool, / If she had not a spirit to resist." - William Shakespeare, 'Taming of the Shrew'_

"We will first hear from the person who has filed the court order, which is Ms. Arbore. Interruption while she is speaking will not be tolerated," Judge Waterloo stated stoically, "unless, it is me and you have a basis to object; only if you feel that person is lying or doesn't have proof. Now, if you please Ms. Arbore, stand and tell the court of your issue."

Something in the air of the courtroom seemed to shift. Whatever it was, Beth could not determine the source of it and then she stood warily. Her eyes briefly flick over to the right of her to see a full jury box. Taking a deep breath to steady her quaking nerves, Beth began to tell her side of the story.

Bethany told of everything that she could remember from the first time she had met one of the Thneed adversitors up until the company's laborers came chopping down the tree in front of her yard. The only part of the story she left out was when the Once-ler came back to retrieve his stovepipe hat.

From the opposite table, the entrepreneur took notice of the elapses in her story. Once-ler continued to listen, he wrote down some notes. When he finished with writing the last thing Beth said, he sat down his pen. As usual whenever he'd finished writing for an extended amount of time, his right hand sparked up in an agonizing ache. He cringed slightly at the sudden pain and clenched his gloved fist to suppress it.

Then in the next moment, he raised his round head to look up at the judge who called his name. _'Oh, it's my turn._' Standing tall in his taunting height, the Once-ler cleared his throat before he opened his mouth to utter the words of his point-of-view.

"When I first started my humble business with my creation of the Thneed, I was not aware that there was another person living in the Truffula Valley. As far as I knew, the forest didn't belong to anyone until I became a success," He took another deep breath, looked over at Beth's intense, incredulous face, and continued on, "I most certainly did not expect or intend to stumble upon Miss Arbore's land. Luckily, we discovered the ownership before one of our Super-Axe-Hackers crashed into her property."

"Get to the point, Mr. Once-ler." Judge Waterloo grouched out.

"Heh, sorry your Honor," the Once-ler apologized with an edge of annoyance. "As stated by Miss Arbore, we had first sent out the Thneed notifiers at the beginning of September. However, several weeks had passed by and according to reports, she'd been refusing us. Since we weren't seeing any progress in this matter, I decided to visit her and to see if I could be able to persuade her. After discussing things with her, I came to realize that Miss Arbore seems unable to be negotiated with. However, if she'd just listen to our terms and what we have to offer, she would not be completely bothered with."

"Hmm...this dispute you two are having seems to be something that can be easily handle but," Judge Waterloo trailed off.

"Your Honor," Mr. Brown stood up in that moment, "Mr. Once-ler does want to use Miss Arbore's entire land to use to his company's benefit. And not only that, he wants to own her property."

"Is that so," drawled Waterloo as he tapped his finger against his large bench. "I imagine Ms. Arbore is not too keen on this idea."

"You are correct, your Honor." Beth immediately said.

The judge leaned back in his cushioned chair and thought hard. "We will continue this hearing tomorrow. I suggest you two to consult with a mediator." - His hand grabbed hold of his gavel- "Court dismissed!" He bellowed and banged the gavel once.

The majority of the reporters in the room deflated with disappoint at the lack of drama between the million-dollar Thneed inventor and isolated farm girl. Bethany's button nose scrunched up and brow raised.

"Is that it?" She asked Mr. Schmitz, who was gathering up his notes and documents. "You didn't even get to talk."

"Sometimes the time of court can vary. It all depends on the kind of judge that you get, Miss Arbore," Schmitz snipped at the girl. "Be as prepared as you were today for tomorrow. And don't be late! Goodbye."

Beth watched her not-too-polite attorney disappear into the throng of exiting people. Blowing air out of her mouth, she turned back to the table to shuffle her own papers together. As she continued to organize her documents, her charcoal eyes wandered off to the side and to land on the finely dressed Once-ler. He was just placing his black stovepipe-hat on top of his mop of black hair and lifting his sparkly blue sunglasses to be perched on his face. The portly little man next to him gently patted his long green-gloved arm before he went out of the courtroom. Once-ler turned around to face a group of odd people -_'his family, perhaps?'_- and flashed them a them a charming smile. Then, all of a sudden, his smile faded and he turned his head over to Beth's direction, a dark brow cocked itself inquiringly. Realizing that she was staring, she quickly averted her eyes back at the oak table.

Pressing her papers to her chest, Beth decided to leave at that very minute. She swore that she could feel eyes burning into her as she walked down the aisle towards the double doors. _'Just act like he doesn't exist.'_ Bethany chided to herself.

Firm hands rested on her thin shoulders and Beth whipped her head to her left to see Pete Briggs' cocky grin. "You did good today, Beth." He slid his hands off her shoulders to instead rest his entire right arm around them. Beth scowled in distaste. "Other than you being fashionably late. I didn't think that was your style." He babbled on and started to guide the girl out of the courtroom.

"Bethany!"

The young woman looked over her shoulder to briefly catch a concerned Theresa. Beth looked back up at Pete Briggs before she demanded, "Please, take your arm off me."

"Huh?" The reporter stopped in his one-sided conversation and peered confused down at Beth. Never really having a good hold on her temper, Beth flung his arm off her like he was a leech.

"Whoa!" Pete Briggs backed up and held his hands up defensively. "A little hostile there. Listen Bethany, we really need to discuss your lack of people skills. In order for you to win this, you gotta get people to like you. And you doing what you just did to me is not helping you any."

She gave him a dark glare but deep down, she knew that this irritating, pesky journalist was right. "Tch! Whatever." Moodily grouched Beth as she crossed her arms over her chest, leather jacket creaking with her movements.

"I knew you'd agree," Pete Briggs gave a big dorky grin. "Now there is a group of people that I'd like you to meet. If you'd just follow me this way."

Still pouting, Beth was about to follow after Briggs when she seen the Once-ler and his family strutting out. Several people and reporters were surrounding them; wildly asking questions that the successful young man only gave brief answers and dazzling smiles. His cobalt eyes found Bethany's. She held her chin high and refused to break eye contact with the man that threatened her home. However, the Once-ler didn't back down from her silent challenge and he gave her a smile confident smirk. It wasn't until he had been ushered out by some of his bodyguards that it all the line of eye contact snapped apart.

"Uh, Beth, aren't you coming?" Briggs returned back to where the girl was standing after he realized that she wasn't behind him.

"Yes." The young woman followed after Pete Briggs.

OoOo

When the Once-ler family made it safely back into the spacious limo, Isabella murmured, "That was very uneventful."

"It could have gone worse," Once-ler shrugged indifferently and turned to watch the scenery go by out the window. "I'm rather glad that it was so quick." _'Even though it felt like a complete waste of time, and now I have to return again tomorrow!'_

"So," Brett started out slowly and the Once-ler's eyes returned to look over at them, "that was the the girl y'er havin' problems with?"

"Heh!" Aunt Grizelda butted in, "She doesn't seem to be so tough. You got this in the bag."

"And did you see what she was wearin'!" Isabella added, "such ratty clothin' and she dressed like a man. There is notin' to worry about with that country bumpkin."

_'Did she forget what we were once?'_ Once-ler thought bitterly.

"Um," Uncle Ubb then spoke up. _'Thank God.'_ "I don't think we should be so relaxed about this."

"Oh? And what makes you say that?" Grizelda growled at her husband.

"Just-just statin' my opinion is all." Uncle Ubb recoiled in on himself when the pug-faced woman glared at him. "Isn't that what we were all doin'?"

Sighing at his uncle's lack of a backbone, the Once-ler said, "How about we all just stop talking about it, okay?" They all fell silent and did what he asked. _'They never would have listened to me like that before.'_ He thought as he still got amazed of the power he held over his family. "I get a bad headache whenever I hear that woman's name anyway." Mumbled the Once-ler.

The rest of the ride remained in silence, much to the Once-ler's satisfaction, and the limo finally came to a halt in front of the Thneed factory. The Once-ler didn't wait for his door to be opened and just went on inside to forget the court meeting... and Bethany Arbore.

OoOo

Most of the hype and people dispersed after the Once-lers left in their long, fancy limo. The only ones that remained was a group of strangely dressed people. A lot of them appeared to have an obsession with flowers and multi-colored shirts; and straggly hair and bare feet. The majority of them wore Thneeds as scarves and jackets._ 'Doesn't that contradict with what they're fighting against?'_ Beth thought sourly but she could clearly hear her father's voice saying, _'Do not judge those if you do not want to be judged.'_

Pete Briggs and Beth stood next to each other; Pete with an incredibly goofy grin and Beth's grumpy bent to her brow and frown.

"Hello all! You guys have probably already seen who Bethany is," announced Briggs as he placed a hand on Beth's shoulder once again. She decided to ignore it for now. "Well, here she is!"

"Hey," Beth gave a half-hearted wave.

"Are you trying to stop the Once-ler's environmental hazards?" One of the front environmentalists asked.

"Um, well, actually-!" Beth began but got interrupted by someone else's next question.

"Do you really live in the Truffula Valley?"

"How come you've never done anything before to stop the Once-ler?"

"What's going to become of our ozone?"

Then the crowd became restless and their questioning got jumbled together. Pete quickly tried to keep the peace.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! People, please! Let the lady speak," Briggs hollered and then he bent low to whisper in her ear, "Okay, Beth, give them your best." And he lightly patted her back for encouragement and comfort.

She looked at Pete before she stepped forward. Squaring her shoulders and raising her chin, Beth then said, "Um, yes, I do live in Truffula Valley but I can not tell you where." A couple of the people in the crowd murmured puzzled with one another. 'Quick, say something that they'll like but not outwardly lying.' "However, I am trying to stop the Once-ler from taking my land."

They cheered at her statement for a bit. Then someone blurted, "What about the rest of the valley?"

"Well, you see-!"

"I think that's enough for now!" Pete Briggs cut off the environmentalists' interrogation and grabbed hold of Beth's upper arms. "It's been a long day so far, and I'm sure Miss Bethany would like to go home and rest. Please be sure to support her side!"

Dragging the young woman down the City Hall steps and along the sidewalk, Pete Briggs talked excitedly towards Beth. "That was so close. If you'd continued with what you were going to say there, it would have jeopardized everything for you."

"How do you know what I was going to say?"

"It was pretty obvious," the know-it-all tone evident in Pete Briggs voice and it was accompanied with an eye roll. "I'll treat you to lunch."

"No," objected Beth and she dug her heels into the pavement.

"Wha? But why?" Pete Briggs was aghast at Beth's refusal.

"You were right earlier. I do want to get home," Beth glared at the journalist and she pried his hand off her wrist. "Goodbye." And she turned in the opposite direction and headed to her house in the Truffula forest.

OoOo

A fork stabbed into the squishy surface of a chocolate cake. The delectable pastry was small, just big enough to fit in the palm of a hand and it was the cheapest cake that Beth could find at Greenville's bakery. The thinnest candlestick that she could find in her house stuck out of the middle and burned brightly with its tiny flame. Beth's chin rested atop her fist as she stared down at the little celebration gift to herself.

"Happy birthday to me," She muttered and she blew out the candle.

When she got a piece of cake on her fork, her front door opened. The Lorax strolled in with a violent shiver. He climbed up the chair opposite of Beth's.

"Oh man, it's cold out there," The forest guardian voiced his observation.

"You're covered in fur, you don't have to worry." Beth dryly stated.

The Lorax snorted and then gruffly replied, "Aw, thanks for the reassurance. I was afraid I'd be a popsicle by the end of tonight."

Beth took the first bite of her cake, ignoring the orange fuzz-ball's snark. The Lorax looked down at it, cocked a long bushy eyebrow, and said, "I see you're finally allowing yourself some self indulgence."

Humming in agreement, Beth sat down her fork and laced her fingers together. "So, any success today?"

"I found a couple Humming-fish covered in glup and several of the Swomme-swans are losing a lot of their feathers," The Lorax's face turned solemn, "and I found a family of Bar-ba-loots but they are being stubborn with returning here with me."

"I'm sure they'll agree to come with you eventually," Beth assured.

"Yeah. Oh!" The Lorax exclaimed and he seemed as though he just remembered something, "Speaking of the Humming-fish and glup, don't drink from the river anymore."

"Why?"

"The gluppity-glup and sloppity-slop are flowing farther down the river. It can be completely dangerous for you to drink."

"Oh. Well, I guess I better get use to drinking a lot of juice then," Half-joked Beth. "I can buy some jugs of water from town I suppose."

"What about us?" The Lorax inquired.

"Us?"

"The forest creatures, me as well?" He stared at the young woman. His eyes pleading for her help.

Sighing, Beth confirmed, "Don't worry. I'll be sure to get plenty for everyone."

The speaker-for-the-trees smiled at her and they continued to converse lightly with one another. Though, Beth felt tempted to tell him about her court hearing but she decided against it. There was always tomorrow after that meeting.

OoOo

Coughing harshly and then rubbing her two slender hands together to friction a bit of heat, Theresa Wiggins walked as briskly as her constricting pencil-skirt allowed. She headed towards the City Hall building to support her boss's client. At the sight of the girl's disheartened face, Theresa felt an instant motherly urge; someone had to be there for the young woman, especially considering that she had no one else.

By the time the receptionist made it up the steps and into the brick building, she notice people milling about the place. She'd smile warmly and bid everyone she passed by with a 'good morning.' Walking up the other flight of stairs to the next floor, Theresa seen a lone figure sitting on a bench outside a courtroom. As she got closer, a happy grin graced its way across her red lips.

"Miss Bethany!" Mrs. Wiggins waved at the younger woman. "You're here early."

Beth closed the book that she was reading and stood. "Yes. I figured that I ought to rise from bed and leave my house early. I didn't want to be late again like yesterday."

"So, are you prepared? Do you have all your documents?"

"Yes, they're right here," Beth patted her papers in her hand.

"You brought a book?" Theresa pointed at the leather bound book.

"Um, just doin' some research of my own," replied Beth.

"I heard that your father was quite the schol-whoops! Sorry," The older woman quickly apologized for her forward mistake. "That was very insensitive of me."

Beth's brow was etch together and her frown deepened in irritation. However, she remember what Pete Briggs had said and her features soften. "It's alright. You didn't mean it."

"I really am sorry," Theresa eyes grew as wide as a pathetic puppy.

"Really, it's okay, Mrs. Wiggins," Beth assured. "How about we just go into the courtroom and wait for my hearing, hm?"

* * *

_A/N: I feel like I'm making Beth to be a bit of a bitch. Also, I know the beginning of this chapter was a poor excuse for a court hearing but in my strange logic, I kind of picture that these things are a slow process. They only start out small before they turn into something large and troublesome. And I wonder if any of you caught in the last chapter that it was Beth's birthday. Well it didn't out right say it was her birthday but it hinted at it until I confirmed it in the chapter. By the way, her birthday is October 14; a couple days after my grandpa's._

_Thanks again for reading. Please review. _


	11. Chapter 11: Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now

_A/N: Howdy dearies! Thank you all to those that reviewed, favorited, followed, or even just stopped by to read. I love you all very much and I hope you had an awesome Thanksgiving(if you do celebrate it)! Sorry for the lack of an update last week. Life got in the way, sadly. But my birthday was last Monday, the 19th. This chapter's title is from the animated film Cats Don't Dance. Happy reading!_

_****__DISCLAIMER!: I DON'T OWN ANY OF THE LORAX CHARACTERS! ALL RIGHTS GO TO DR. SEUSS AND ILLUMINATION ENTERTAINMENT!_

* * *

The Hanging Tree

Chapter 11:

Nothing's Gonna Stop Us

* * *

_"Listen to the mustn'ts, child. / Listen to the don'ts. / Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. / Listen to the never haves, / then listen close to me... / Anything can happen, child. / Anything can be." - Shel Silverstein, 'Listen To The Mustn'ts'_

At about four foot two and donning a pasta strainer on his fluffy mop of black hair, Once-ler peered out from behind the recliner that Uncle Ubb was snoozing away in. He looked back over his shoulder. His devious twin brother silently encouraged him to follow through with his mission. Gulping, the young Once-ler crawled army-style on his stomach towards the kitchen.

In the world of make believe, Once-ler was a brave knight who had been sent on a rigorous task to retrieve a treasure. However, he had to get passed the ugly, red-horned dragon that slept before the chamber that held what he and his royal leaders desired.

As he quietly slipped passed the rumbling beast, Once-ler grinned in success and stuck close to the wall. Taking his mother's hand mirror out of the back of his pocket, he used the reflecting glass to see if the coast was clear. A little wary of the actions expected of him, Once-ler looked back at his older brothers. They rolled their eyes in sync and frantically gestured their hands for Once-ler to continue with what he pledged to do.

Then, with a nervous bite of his lower lip, the future Thneed company owner stood up on his feet and cautiously walked into the kitchen. He looked left and right; keeping an eye out for the "Evil Queen" that owned the treasure. Looking up at the next obstacle the brave Once-ler had to overcome, his blue eyes then search the place for something that will give him a little leverage. Trying to keep his stealth, Once-ler slowly scooted a nearby chair to the counter. Climbing like a spider-monkey up the chair and onto the countertop, he crawled on his hands and knees to grab the treasure, or rather a cream-colored jar. After securely tucking the treasure in his hands, he attempted to clambered back down the way he came.

Once on the floor, the boy opened the lid to peer inside. The jar was half-empty with delicious pastry treats. Being practically dirt poor, it was rare for there to be delicacies within the household but when there were, they usually went to his mother and Aunt Grizelda. However, Once-ler's brothers decided that it was going to change and they devised a plan to get what they wanted. Of course this left their younger brother to do their dirty work.

Out of nowhere, Once-ler ran into a round, bodily force. That force caused him to fall back and lose his grip on the jar. A heart-stopping shatter of the jar froze Once-ler to his spot on the ground and stared wide-eyed at the scattered cookies. If he would have bolted then and there, Aunt Grizelda wouldn't have yanked him by his scrawny arm.

In the next moment, Once-ler could barely recalled what all happened to cause the sudden sharp pain on his rump and the stinging finger-shaped bruise on his arm. His Uncle Ubb came to the rescue from what he gathered and watched as the old man tried to calm down the raging woman-bull.

Once-ler sulked off and hid in his room for the remainder of the day. While salty tears stained his book about beautiful princesses and courageous knights that slayed ferocious dragons, the lanky boy whispered, "I'm not cut out to be a knight."

OoOo

Again, the courtroom was filled to the brim and held eager reporters to catch a scoop of the young billionaire's battle with the farm-girl. Sitting silently at one of the tables, the Once-ler fiddled with his sparkly sun-glasses while Judge Waterloo carried on with the usual rule stating. Nothing could sound any less uninteresting than this dribble. Eventually, the judge's monotonous drawl came to a stop.

Maneuvering around the oak table, Mr. Brown stood in front of Judge Waterloo. He cleared his throat before he proclaimed, "Your Honor, I call for Mr. Mantovani to the stand!"

When the man who resemble vastly like a rodent approached and sat at the witness stand, Bethany recognized him. She looked over at Mr. Schmitz and quirked a brow. _'What purpose does this hold?'_

Mr. Brown started to pace as he then asked the sewer-rat-man, "On September 4, you went out in the Truffula forest to find the location of Ms. Bethany Arbore and informed her of the offer on her land, correct?"

"Yes, sir," He replied and his beady eyes flicked over towards Beth for a brief second.

"And when you were on her property, what can you say the state of her home was like?"

"I'm not too sure about the inside because I didn't go in, but the land and house seemed well taken care of. I recall first meeting her when she was on top of her roof cementing her chimney," Mr. Mantovani said and shrugged his shoulders.

"So, there were no sign of abuse upon the property and forest animals?"

"Not from what I've seen."

"Alright then," Mr. Brown stated. "That is all the questions I have for you, Mr. Mantovani."

The portly man returned back to his table.

Over on the opposite table, Beth leaned over to Schmitz and whispered, "Hey can't we use that against them by turnin' it around on the Once-ler's own land?"

While he took out a cigarette and lit it, Schmitz answered with, "I've already got what I want to use next."

"Schmitz are you ready yet?" Judge Waterloo demanded as he tapped his forefinger against his large desk irritably.

"I'm as ready as I'll ever be," Schmitz's gruff voice projected throughout the courtroom and he stood confidently. Taking very measured steps towards the witness stand, Beth's attorney stopped. "Mr. Mantovani, you are head of your team of adversitors. How often did you and your team members intrude on Miss Arbore's land?"

"Um," -Mantovani fidgeted uncomfortably- "Every day for about three weeks, from what I recollect. However, we had made it every other day after a while when she continued to decline our offer."

"Is that so?" Taking a deep drag of his tobacco, Schmitz began to slowly pace. "Is this not a form of harassment if she has already declined the first couple times?"

"I suppose." Mantovani looked over at his boss in distress.

"Think about it," The aggressive attorney leaned casually against Waterloo's desk as he inquired, "wouldn't you find it a bit uncomfortable and an act against someone's privacy to be just popping up whenever you pleased?"

"Uh...well-!"

"Did it not occur to the rest of the Thneed company that someone could have lived happily and undisturbed within the Truffula Valley? Did it not occur to the Once-ler of this fact?"

Several of the people in the jury box nodded their head in agreement.

"We did have landscapers before we got sent out to her house. They were scaling the valley to see how far it extended but they didn't initially find her property until much later," Mantovani set his mouth in a hard line as he tried to defend the company he proudly worked for.

"So, it took three years for the Once-ler to find another residence in the forest?"

"It is a rather large forest; it goes on for miles and her land is was deep within. How could the Once-ler possibly know that she was there?"

"That is true, but most of the citizens of Greenville knew of Beth and where she lived. If he wanted to know, all he had to do was ask around town."

The long-nosed man, huffed and crossed his arms haughtily, "I will still say, how could the Once-ler possibly know someone was living in there?"

"You are not from Greenville, are you Mr. Mantovani?" Mr. Schmitz asked as he retrieved his ashtray from his side's table and put out his cigarette.

"No, I'm not. I come from a town not too far from here."

"Then you're ignorance of Bethany is now explained. Are most of the Thneed factory workers from out of town as well?"

"I do not know. If you people are so into knowing others' business that you're even knowledgeable of a nobody like that_ isolated hermit-bitch_ over there, shouldn't you be aware if someone is working at Thneed!"

The courtroom erupted in uproarious astonishment. Both the Once-ler's and Beth's eyes widen. They turned their heads to look at one another; Beth's accusatory expression caused the young man to give a sincere innocent shrug. Harsh banging of Waterloo's gavel cut sharply through the loud bustle and ceased the excited chatter. Waterloo turned sternly to the witness stand, looked down the bridge of his nose, and wagged his finger at the Thneed employee like he was a bad dog. "Once more outburst like that and I'll hold you in contempt of court. Next witness."

For the rest of the court hearing, progress was not something that felt like it was made. Most of the witnesses that showed up were the same salesmen that had pitched the Thneed's price offer for her land. This resulted in mostly the repeating of several described occurrences. Schmitz and Brown were constantly going back and forth; Brown's tactic for gentle questions countered against Schmitz's sharp bite. While Schmitz seemed to be on full attack mode, Mr. Brown appeared to be asking questions to investigate and calculate his next move. Close to the end of the session, Mr. Brown called for Bethany to the stand.

"Good afternoon, Ms. Bethany," Mr. Brown greeted the young woman.

She regarded the seemingly kind attorney suspiciously before she returned the sentiment, "Good afternoon."

"How long have you lived in Truffula Valley, Ms. Bethany?"

"For as long as I can remember," Beth answered.

"And you own about an acre of this land?"

"Yes, sir."

"And what do you use your land for?"

"I harvest the truffula-fruit and sale it in town along with my goat's milk.

"But according to some citizens, you and your sales have been absent from town for a quite a while now, is that correct?"

"Yes," Beth's eyes narrowed as she continued to watch the brown suited man. "I have not been in town within about a year now."

Mr. Brown chuckled before he said, "If that's the case then you are not really using your land. If you're not harvesting your fruit then why don't you make it useful by signing it over to Mr. Once-ler?"

"That is not true, sir. I said that I have not been into town for a while, that didn't mean I wasn't still harvesting my fruit." Trying to keep her anger under control, Beth sunk a little lower in her seat.

"You're not using it to make a profit anymore. Why do you have such a problem with giving away, your land? You could sale the rest of harvest and goat's milk and then buy a home here in Greenville or Thneedville. Why don't you do that?" Mr. Brown inquired wholeheartedly and stood directly in front of Beth. For the most part, her face was hidden by his round body so, the devastated expression she wore could not be seen. She opened her mouth to reply but no words came out. Pouting just slightly and lowering her head, she remained silent for about a minute.

"Answer the question Miss Arbore," Judge Waterloo, surprisingly, urged softly.

"Becau-because my father built my home and tended to the land with his own two hands," Beth drew in a nervous breath. "If I don't take care of it then it would all be for nothing."

"Thank you Ms. Arbore. That is all."

That was the end of that session and Judge Waterloo scheduled for the next meeting for it to be the Monday of the second week. Par usual, reporters swarmed the Once-ler and his family. Sneaking off from the side, Beth found Theresa. The older woman linked arms with her and they walked out.

OoOo

Pete Briggs came charging into the coffee shop that Theresa and Beth inhabited for their lunch. He stopped at their table, huffing and puffing and, all the while, having a huge grin plastered on his face. While he tried to regain his breath, he tipped his hat at Theresa before he rounded on Beth with over enthusiastic gushing. "Beth! Beth, you did amazing again today! You're getting people on your side. That little heartbreaking confession about your father did the trick! Did you see my news article?"

Theresa gave out an amused giggle as she then said, "You need to calm down. Didn't think I'd see someone getting this excited over a court hearing before." She playfully whispered the last sentence towards Beth.

Resting her chin in the palm of her hand and looking up at Pete Briggs, Beth mumbled, "You don't know when to give up, do you?"

"Nope!" He proudly stood in a mock hero pose. Then his right hand swiped something out of his back pants pocket and slapped the rolled up newspaper on the tabletop. "Now, read."

Beth rolled her eyes and uncurled the newspaper to the see Pete's article. Her brow forwarded as she read the first line she saw. "Why does your headline say 'Bethany Arbore: Fearless Amazon Warrior'?"

"It's to idolize you." Pete smiled but then it fell slightly. "Why do you look so offended?"

Sighing, Beth rolled the article up and tucked it under her arm. "I'll read your article later, okay?"

"Oh," His usual bubbly personality deflated, "Okay. But I also came here to tell you what people's been writing about you."

"What?"

Realizing he had a hold of her attention, Briggs brighten a notch. "Yes! May seem like nothin' but it's obvious what they're saying is offensive about you. You just gotta read in-between the lines."

"What are they saying, Pete Briggs?" Her no-nonsense tone made it clear she wasn't put up with his antics today.

"Um...they're saying that you lack the intelligence of beating a successful billionaire and they call you a filthy redneck. Uh, Beth your face is really looking scary right now." Briggs shrunk back a bit as Beth angrily glared down at the tile floor.

"Pete!" She grounded out.

"Yes, ma'am?"

"What's the worse that you can write about someone?" An impish smirk formed its way on her lips.

"I wouldn't know. I've never wrote anything bad about anyone." Pete uncharacteristically fidgeted uncomfortably in his spot.

"Well, there's a first for everything, eh?" Suggested Beth as she arched an eyebrow. Theresa's barely contained laughter could be heard from the side. "Pete! Do you think you can do me a favor?"

Weary, he replied, "I guess."

"I want you to write me an article over the Once-ler and his Thneed company. Make it the most disrespectfully thing ever written, but do it in a subtle way; I don't want you to be getting in trouble, of course."

"You want _me_ to write an article for you?" The joy and disbelief became evident in his voice but the slow satisfied smile on his face was full proof of his happiness. He grabbed Beth by her shoulders and shook her as he declared, "I'll do it! For you Beth! It'll be so wickedly bad that nuns would have to cross themselves more than once."

"Yeah, yeah. Now stop shaking me. You're gonna give me head trauma." She pried his hands off her. "You should go and start writing now. I want to see that article by next week, okay?"

"Yes, ma'am, or should I say captain!" Pete Briggs saluted her and then swaggered out of the cafe. "I won't let you down!" He hollered before the door closed in his face.

Theresa gave Beth a look that clearly said 'girly gossip time. Now!' "So, you got yourself an admirer I see. He's cute."

Appalled, Beth stuttered out, "What? No!"

"Oh. Okay then," Mrs. Wiggins' little smile remained and annoyed Beth(almost as much as seeing the Once-ler's face).

OoOo

Bar-ba-loots, swomme-swans, and humming-fish were lazed about everywhere in her cottage. They had to invade her home eventually. Giving her second sigh of irritation for the day, Beth quietly shut her front door and then tip-toed around the forest creatures. On her way to her ladder, she dropped off the newspaper, documents, and her book at her table. She shook her head at the sight of crowded animals and then climbed up to her loft.

Nearly screaming in further frustration, the young woman felt her left eye twitch. They were up here too. Those stormy dark eyes zeroed in on the one forest guardian. Marching over to the Lorax, Beth snatched him up by his orange scruff and disturbed him out of his sleep. "I get that you guys are cold and you need a warm place to sleep, but when you all invade into my bedroom," She gestured her free hand to the general direction of her loft, "that becomes a bit of a problem."

"Huh?"

"Wake up. I got a few questions for you, Lorax." And she dropped him like a sack of potatoes. After shooing away a couple bar-ba-loots from her bed, Beth plopped atop it and sat Indian-style.

Rubbing his sore bottom and grumbling about moody females, the Lorax folded his arms. His forest green eyes that appeared to be far more wiser than the mythical being let on, stared back at the human woman with expectancy. "What do you find so important that you had to interrupt my beauty sleep for?"

The young woman raise her hand up in a way to try to cease the Lorax's indignation and patted the side of the be in another silent manner to say 'come sit next to me.' He gave out a snort before he clambered up onto the bed.

"Well?" The orange fuzz-ball impatiently inquired.

"First off, shouldn't the animals be getting ready for their seasonal hibernation and migration?"

"I'm glad to know that you're concerned about that sort of thing," The Lorax leaned back and lifted a bushy brow. "Yes, but with most of the smogulous smoke in the air, it's preventing the swomme-swans from migrating, or at least, airborne wise. Same goes for the humming-fish because the streams are getting contaminated with glup. Also, you should take a look at the river when you wake up in the morning."

"Let me guess. It's completely in the entire river now, huh?" Her brows knitted together and her shoulders sagged at the unhappy news. "And the bar-ba-loots? Oh wait. They sleep in the tufts of the trees and with the fear of the lumber-men chopping them down, it's preventing them too?" The Lorax just simply nodded his head.

"You should see the state of the humming-fish and some of the swomme-swans," The Lorax grimly suggested. "It's not so pretty. Humming-fish are covered in glub and the smoke has caused most of the swomme-swans to lose their feathers."

"They have no way of surviving this Winter," Beth looked down at her hands to hide her own saddening expression. "A lot of them aren't going to be able to make it, are they?

"Sadly, no. Most of them won't survive. The bar-ba-loots may have a better chance of living, but the chances for the others," The Lorax trailed off as the rest of the sentence became obvious.

"Now I wish I had a bigger house." Beth flung her body backwards to lay completely across her mattress.

"Is that all the questions you had to ask?" The Lorax asked after he regained his balance from the large bounce her body erupted.

Peeking out from under arm that she had draped over her face, Bethany flatly said, "No, I got plenty more following your way, signore Baffi(1)."

* * *

_A/N: (1) Signore Baffi means Mister Mustache in Italian._

_I got to see Rise of the Guardians and it was awesome! If you haven't seen it yet, go. NOW!_

_I'd like to recognize Guest for a moment. Thank you for the review. I'm happy that you're enjoying it so far! :)_

_Also BroniesAreEpic(that is if you've read this, this far), thank you for stopping by to review and yes you are correct. That is where the title of the fic is from._


	12. Chapter 12: Bad Kids

_A/N: Hey-a pimps! Thank you to all those that reviewed, favorited, followed, or even just stopped by to read this. Shout out goes to all the people that read this story in different countries. You guys all rock and I love you all! Once again, sorry that I didn't update last weekend but my homework got in the way and sadly, that comes first. This is possibly the shortest chapter so far, so I apologize for that. This chapter's title is Lady Gaga's Bad Kids. Oh! One other announcement: I have a sneak peek to a scene in a future chapter on Tumblr if you all are curious. Happy reading!_

_****__DISCLAIMER!: I DON'T OWN ANY OF THE LORAX CHARACTERS! ALL RIGHTS GO TO DR. SEUSS AND ILLUMINATION ENTERTAINMENT!_

* * *

The Hanging Tree

Chapter 12:

Bad Kids

* * *

_"A little rebellion is good now and then." - Thomas Jefferson_

The night was dark as the ominous clouds of smoke spread relentlessly from the towers of the Thneed factory. Across the sky, the smogulous smoke ate it up and hide it away as if it were a malicious kidnapper. It loomed completely over the little cottage that was miles and miles away from the Once-ler's company.

Oblivious to the health hazard circulating around her home, Beth lay in her bed. She rested on her side, her back to the the edge of her loft and staring out of the round window at the end of her room. Her coal dark eyes were half lidded as her sleep-fogged mind tried to continue contemplating her actions. Eventually, she came into the half world of dreams and reality. Her mind made her believe that she heard the familiar heavy work boots thudding across her hardwood floors. In her mind's eye, she could see him come to a halt when he stood over her. Those warm and intelligent eyes stared down at Beth. His large, strong hands brushed aside her uneven hair like he always done whenever he would about voice his words of wisdom.

"Papa," Beth whispered longingly.

"_Capretta(1),_ I thought you knew better," His brow creased in its usual way when he was disappointed and his mouth pressed into a hard frown, "Have my teachings been for naught?"

"I'm sorry Papa, but I just got so angry," Something within her felt as if it snapped and a stinging sensation sprang forth within her eyes; but she refused to let it continue further. "I can't just let people say horrible things about me when they're not true."

Silence elapsed for a moment and he continued to stroke her hair softly. Then his hand untangled itself from the smooth tresses.

Softly he said, "A stronger person would have ignored those petty words and kept moving forward with their goal. Sinking down to a lower person's level is going to damage the good that is within you and it won't make anything better."

Glistening eyes widened as they watched as her father dissipated.

Jolting awake, the young woman slowly sat up in her bed and looked around her loft. No sign of an unexpecting presence. Sighing, she got up and carefully climbed down the ladder. She was careful not to stumble over the scattered animals slumbering throughout her house. Curiously enough, Pipsqueak sat on the windowsill near the front door and gazing out of it. Once Beth made it to the smallest bar-ba-loot, gingerly ran her fingers through his short brown fur. He gave a slight jump before he peeked up at the human female.

"What are you looking at little guy?" Beth inquired as she too looked up and surveyed the line of truffula trees outside her fence. Returning her attention back to Pipsqueak, she noticed the very distinct sad emotion lingering in his large, adorable eyes. Beth knew too well what gleamed. "Pip, are you missing someone?"

The little bar-ba-loot only made a soft sound before he turned back to the window and pressed his nose against the cold glass.

After Beth returned back to bed, she decided to place all her concerns of her actions in the back of her mind. When her eyes opened abruptly at the obtrusively loud crow of the humming-fish. She let out a short cry and tumbled out of her bed; landing in an upside down heap on her floor with her quilt tangled in her legs. Her hand clenched her nightgown in the area of her heart.

Soon the young woman freed herself from her constricting blanket and dressed. She feed all the animals taking over her home, including the Lorax, and ate her own portion of food. Once Beth was able to remove some of the clinging baby bar-ba-loots that decided to latch onto her legs, she ventured forth to the stream with the Lorax not too far from her heels. Then kneeling before the black sludge that use to be the pure water, Beth took a nearby stick and poked it. Pulling the stick out and examining the gluppity-glup that slide down. It gave off a horrible smell that could be compared to rotten, perhaps rotten dead fish. As she pulled it away, she sniffed again; her dark eyes darted upwards to see the smoke roll and consumed the entire sky.

OoOo

One day when Beth had decided to meet up with Theresa for lunch, the older woman had poorly concealed shock and disgust written all over her face. With the fact that Beth could no longer use the stream as a means of bathing any longer, so she stood there before her new friend in self-consciousness. Throughout their lunch together, Theresa couldn't stop glancing up at the wreck of the young woman sitting across from her.

After thinking it over, Mrs. Wiggins sat down the glass she was sipping on and asked, "Is everything going on okay at home?"

Oddly timid, Beth looked up from her twisted straw wrapper. "Yes."

Mrs. Wiggins sighed heavily before she said, "To be honest, honey, you look like you haven't had a bath in a year."

Beth gave a low grumble.

Cocking her curly brown haired head to the side and placing a small understanding smile on her lips, Theresa then stated, "Beth if you ever need any help or whatnot, I'm always here to help you."

Beth looked everywhere but at Theresa for the longest time, but when she did, she nodded her head and complied. "I suppose I'd ought to look presentable before the next hearing on Monday."

A big, bright smile found its way gracefully on the mother's face. And in that instant, Beth knew she was soon to regret whatever Theresa had in store for her.

OoOo

Finally Monday had came, and in a room that was mostly composed of grey wallpaper and furniture that was made of plastic, the Once-ler, Beth, and bother their attorneys occupied the chairs at the small oval table. Beth sat and glared so harshly at the entrepreneur that he thought he could feel the pain she wished upon him. Though he did feel kind of shielded by his sunglasses, oddly enough.

"Miss Bethany," Mr. Brown started, "if you continue to make faces at my client, I can file that as a form of harassment."

The temperamental young woman growled and casted her seething gaze towards the table. Schmitz cleared his throat rather loudly to distract himself from the awkwardness and the worsening angry aura.

Schmitz hastily barked, "Let's get this thing over with already, so we won't be late before our hearing."

"Naturally," The Once-ler agreed and laced his fingers together. He, as casually as he could appear, looked over at Bethany. "Has Miss Arbore finally seen the logic in my terms yet?"

"Go to he_-rgh_!" Beth's lawyer swiftly placed his hand over her mouth before she could finish the offending word. The Once-ler couldn't help the smirk playing across his lips.

"My client firmly declines your offer, once again. She only wishes to live peacefully within her land." Smoothly stated Mr. Schmitz.

In a similar condescending tone much like his mother's, the Once-ler inquired, "Is that so? If we never come to an agreement, we'll forever be stuck in court. Is that your plan Miss Arbore?" He leaned in closer as if he were a predatory creature.

"If it's the only means of keeping you away from my home," Beth shot back and she kept her chin held high; not wanting to show any sign of being intimidated by this man._ 'A man who thought himself above common courtesy like taking his hat and sunglasses off in a building.'_

"Heh! Well now," The Once-ler chuckled and sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. "I guess trying a renegotiation in the mediator room wasn't such good idea."

"You were the one that suggested it," snapped the young woman much like a venomous snake. Beth rolled her eyes and crossed her arms in a huff.

"Someone's got an attitude today," shot back the Once-ler.

"Oh, it can get much worse," Beth challenged, "Do you want me to demonstrate it?"

"Please," the Once-ler held up his hand, "Let us act like the adults that we are."

"Maybe you should start taking your own advice, Once-ler," Beth snipped and raised her head in a way so she could peer down the bridge of her nose at the rich man.

The man and woman had a moment to glare at one another before Mr. Brown cleared his throat to catch their attention. The stout man tapped at this wristwatch. "Our time has come. We must end this disastrous meeting now."

Still keeping eye contact with Bethany, Once-ler agreed, "Yeah, that would be a very wise idea."

As said, the opponents met in their designated courtroom and were stationed at their usual tables. Judge Waterloo did not appear to be all too pleased with this particular case as he currently had to once again see these disagreeable people. They certainly didn't help with his tobacco addiction; he seriously needed some dip(2) to chew to calm his nerves.

"I suspect going into the mediator room didn't help you any?" Guessed Waterloo. When no one gave an audible answer, the elderly judge scowled. "Hurry up and get this over with. I'm getting awfully tired of this dawdling."

Soon a couple minutes pass and a familiar face sat in the witness stand. It was one of the lumbermen that Bethany had met up that day they chopped down the tree in front of her property. He was the one that mainly spoke to her. His rugged features and brawny body could not be easily forgotten. Apparently his name is Samuel Yertle; an honest young man who was only working for Thneed to help feed his poor family. In what he said held truth. The Once-ler knew there were people out there that desperately needed a job and that's who most of his employees were. He understood their lifestyle for he had experienced it as well. With Yertle's confession, Beth felt like someone had punched her in the gut and set forth a reminder that Mrs. Wiggins's husband also worked for Thneed.

_'I wonder if he knows that his wife's boss is my lawyer?'_ However she then quickly reminded herself of the other circumstance. _'Why should I be worried about this anyway? It's not like I'm trying to destroy his company and leave everyone there without a job.'_

Pacing as he went on his row of questions, Mr. Brown then asked, "When you first met with Ms. Arbore, how would you regard her?"

"Ms. Arbore?" -his eyes briefly swept over to her direction- "She was very upset when we chopped down and took the tree. She protested quite fiercely even after I informed her that the tree wasn't even apart of her property; she still claimed the tree was hers."

"By fiercely protested, what do you mean by that?"

"Um-well, she sort of yelled at me and my crew."

Mr. Brown then stroked at his straggly black mustache in thought. He glanced back up at Sam Yertle. "That is all the questions I have for you, Mr. Yertle."

Throughout the rest of the court hearing Beth sat and contemplated what was said about the Once-ler. Surely this had to all be an act. No one as arrogant as him had to have a caring-bone in his lanky body. Bethany looked over at the entrepreneur and only saw him radiating greed, pride, and heartlessness. He who threatened to take away her own home; he who disrespected her privacy and property. This man with his overly expensive tailored suit, ridiculously giant hat, and luxurious limousine or stylish Ferrari.

_'It just couldn't be true.'_

* * *

_A/N: __Capretta(1): Is another Italian term of endearment that means little goat._

___Dip(2): Is another word for chewing tobacco and that stuff is nasty. I know this for a fact because my dad, grandpa, and uncles chew. And it smells. You can get a hairy tongue from it too. _

___Once again sorry that this was so short but I had to get this out, but some plot points were made and possibly some foreshadowing. Hmm...? Also, originally I was gonna show where Beth first meets Theresa Wiggins family and Norma but I decided to save that for a different chapter where she'll be interacting with them. _

___ohmyomelette: Thank you for the review and I'm happy that you love this so much. Oh this isn't label for romance for no reason, dear. There will certainly be romance in this but it will be very slow, particularly on Beth's part._

___Thanks for reading you guys! _


	13. Chapter 13: Time Is Running Out

_A/N: Bonjour! Sorry about the delay on updates. I was just busy with finals and studying. __Thank you to all those that reviewed, favorited, followed, or even just stopped by to read this. Shout out goes to Sarcasticsadism for the awesome fanart! I love all of you and love to hear from you all. Now also to get this out of the way in case of misunderstandings, I don't have anything against environmentalists; I think all you guys are awesome! Let's give a big whoop for the longest chapter so far! Oh yeah! And I think you all deserve it since I left you all hanging. Chapter title is the Muse's Time Is Running Out; btw you should all go check them out if you haven't. Happy reading!_

_****__DISCLAIMER!: I DON'T OWN ANY OF THE LORAX CHARACTERS! ALL RIGHTS GO TO DR. SEUSS AND ILLUMINATION ENTERTAINMENT!_

* * *

The Hanging Tree

Chapter 13:

Time Is Running Out

* * *

_"It may be said that natural selection is daily and hourly scrutinizing, throughout the world, every variation, even the slightest; rejecting that which is bad, preserving and adding up all that is good..." - Charles Darwin, 'On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection'_

On one particular day when the Once-ler was first attempting to sale his revolutionary Thneed and the people of Greenville were being extremely harsh as they pelted him with vegetation, he sat dejected on the steps of the gazebo in the middle of the town square. The juices from the tomatoes stung and the inventor tried to wipe it away from his face. He looked down at his red stained hand. Sighing deeply, Once-ler hung his head. Lately, things have been seeming pretty pointless, especially his Thneed. Not even his usual optimistic attitude could wire himself back up again.

A white cloth covered his vision momentarily before it fluttered down into his open palm. "Hard day?" Asked a voice that was laced with a very distinctive Italian accent. The Once-ler's cerulean eyes looked up at a man whose height seemed to equal his own but his muscle mass greatly outnumbered the scrawny inventor. A bit of unintentional intimidation radiated off the brawny older man; however there was a wise, kind, and compassionate gleam to his eyes.

As Once-ler cleaned his face and hands of the vegetable juices and seeds, the man sat down next to him on the gazebo. Once-ler replied with a "yeah, thank you" and looked over at this funny accented, bronze skin and sandy-blonde haired man._ 'I've never seen him before. Maybe he's one of the folks who aren't interested in pelting vegetation at me.'_ Shaking his head, Once-ler asked, "I'm sorry, but who are you?"

He looked over at Once-ler curiously, gave a small smirk, and scratched at the straggly stubble on his chin in thought. "You really don't know who I am?"

The Once-ler shook his head 'no.'

"Hmm...I think I like the sound of that." The man stated amusedly to himself before the pink and fuzzy Thneed around Once-ler's neck caught his eye. He pointed at it to ask, "Say, what's that?"

Feeling his salesman mode turning on and the excitement of a potential paying customer bubble up inside of him, Once-ler jumped up from the stairs of the gazebo to then turn and face the man. He took off the Thneed and began his sales pitch. "This, good sir, is a new revolutionary product called the Thneed. It can do thousands that can either help you with your everyday chores or be worn as a fabulous accessory. It has natural micro fibers that allows it to be absorbent to help you with messy spills and-!" Once-ler stopped mid-sentence when he heard the man give out a hearty laugh. He tried to hide his annoyance with a look of confusion and concern. "Is something the matter?"

"No, no! That was great, S_tangone(1)_. Really it was, and I'm sure that once you find the right person, they will buy your 'Thneed.' It sounds wonderful." The man reassured as he stood up and patted Once-ler on the shoulder.

"Do you not want to buy it?" Asked Once-ler and kicking himself with how pathetic he sounded.

"Unfortunately, I have no need for your invention."

Still desperate and hopeful that this kind man would buy his Thneed, Once-ler pressed on. "Oh, but maybe you have a young daughter that would love to have a new pink scarf!"

Keeping the bemused grin on his face, the man simply replied, "I assure you that my daughter would not be interested. Listen here, S_tangone_. Don't let what the people of Greenville do to you discourage you. You're obviously new and I've lived here long enough to inform others that these people aren't the brightest bunch. They are use to their mundane routine so, whenever something new and strange strolls into town to disrupt, they aren't the friendliest people on the planet. Trust me, I can account for it as well."

Once-ler watch the strange man walk away and all the while wondering who he was, for he had not caught his name. He never saw the man again, or at least, seen him in town. However, he had never forgotten that one man who showed him the tiniest of kindness since he entered Greenville.

OoOo

Melvin pulled the cart filled with items and paraphernalia from Bethany's home. He trailed lazily behind the human girl. Oddly, the mule noticed, she was not standing as straight and tall like usual. Something about her felt to be dejected. But there was not a thing that Melvin could do for her, afterall, he is just a mule.

Trekking into Greenville, Beth looked about the town in search of a pawn shop. Out of money to fully pay Mr. Schmitz, the young woman had to resort to selling her possession since no one in town will buy her milk. This was going to be an increasingly difficult task for her.

It didn't take long to find the whimsical shaped building of the town's pawn shop. After tying Melvin to a nearby post, Beth went into the store. The antiques gave off an old smell that can only be associated with aging metal, plastic, and fabric. There was no sign of the store owner.

"Hello?" Bethany called out.

Then a giant woosh of dust exploded behind the counter. Startled, Beth retreated a few steps. A wrinkly, jagged old hand slapped itself on top of the glass counter and barely lifted the elderly body of the shop owner. He coughed out the dust that sneaked its way into his lungs and readjusted his spectacles on the bridge of his nose.

"Are you okay?" Asked Beth. She cautiously stepped toward the pawnbroker.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. Happens all the time, my dear," He replied dismissively before he turned to face the woman. "What can I help you with? Anything in particular that you're lo-hey wait a tick! Aren't you that girl who's goin' head to head with that Once-ler fellow?"

Sighing through her nose, she answered, "Yes, I am."

The old man gave out a crowish cackle. "Missie, you must be one tough cookie! Anyone else would have accepted his offer and went to the nearest paper to brag about their encounter with the millionaire."

"Uh...yeah," Losing her patience with the talkative old-man, Beth quickly changed the subject to her favor, "I actually came here to sale some of my possessions to you, if you don't mind."

"Well, let's see what ya got little missie!" The old-man exclaimed as he waddled out of the front door and Beth wasn't far behind.

Bethany patted Melvin's flank as she went behind him to pull the sheet off the wagon. Seeing the things that she would have to give away broke a piece of the girl's heart. Most of the stuff in the wagon bed consisted of her father's crafts and momentums. They were the only things she could find that could be worth value within her eyes.

"Will these be of interest to you?" asked Beth in the tiniest voice she ever heard herself produce. The old man rummaged and inspected all of her items. There wasn't very much but, he seemed to marvel at the trinkets.

Pushing aside her nagging nostalgia and rifling through the stuff, Beth gave a description for each item and its purpose. Then her calloused hands curled around a silver rectangular device._ 'Papa's harmonica.'_ Its flashing, reflective surface brought up the memories of when a sad or living tune would play throughout the valley during the night; during moments of ease and wonderment._ 'Could I ever give this up?'_

"Hey that's a fine looking harmonica you got there!" The old pawnbroker snatched the small musical instrument from the palm of her hand. "I'm sure I can pay you handsomely for this little beaut."

About to protest at the man's careless actions towards her father's harmonica, but Beth quickly thought over on her matter. _'Sometimes you have to sacrifice a little to get what you want,'_ she thought in defeat and when the broker made his bargain, Beth left with a little money in her pockets and an empty cart.

OoOo

Now sitting silently within his seat in the courtroom, the Once-ler tried to keep himself awake as his opponent's lawyer questioned one of his clients if he was aware of 'such and such right within their government.' _'Blah, blah, blah! Can I go home now?'_ He rolled his eyes skyward as Mr. Schmitz got a little too passionate in his interrogation. Once-ler's own attorney step up the plate next. However, when the slender built of the Arbore girl slinked on up to the witness stand, he perked up and curiously listen to what was to be asked of her.

Mr. Brown looked over at Bethany before continue on with his passing and twirling the ends of his short mustache. "Ms. Arbore, do you believe that you are well liked here in Greenville?"

Taken aback by this otherworldly question, Beth quirked an eyebrow and replied, "I would not know for sure, but I suppose that I am. My father was so, why shouldn't I?"

"Interesting logic there," quipped Mr. Brown as he then chuckled. "But are you aware that several people's stated that there have been occurrences where you have been quite hostile towards them?"

Clearing her throat, Beth went on with, "I wouldn't think anything of it."

"Oh really? Can you tell me Ms. Arbore if you've ever threatened someone with violence?"

"No," she answered with an air of incredulousness.

Mr. Brown turned and stared at Beth for a good while. "Next witness please." He requested and Beth stepped down with a heavy weight in her stomach. When no one entered the stand, sighed. He looked over at Once-ler. "Mr. Once-ler, would you please come up to the stand."

Once-ler gave his attorney a look that clearly said 'seriously?' The look that Mr. Brown gave him could have gave his own mother's a run for her money. Clearing his throat and loosening his satin tie just a bit, the entrepreneur walked up to the witness stand with facade of arrogant confidence. He flopped down into the creaky wooden seat. Then he looked over at Mr. Brown with an expectant tilt to his head.

"Mr. Once-ler," Brown began, "you stated before that when you first met Bethany Arbore that she was 'unable to be negotiated with.' What exactly do you mean by that? Would you say that her behavior was not at all civil or animalistic?"

Strangely, the conscious in the young millionaire that still spoke good sense to him whispered within his ear to speak the truth.

"Well, I reckon that her behavior would be quite understandable," Once-ler nervously cleared his throat again. His blue eyes found their way over towards Beth. "However, she should not be pardoned for her behavior."

"What exactly did she do, Mr. Once-ler, that you deem as uncivil?"

"She certainly has the foulest temper I've ever encountered, but she had not said anything that would be considered inappropriate. Miss Arbore was just on the defensive; I did intrude upon her land," the Once-ler explained and gave a weak smile. All the while he could not help but to think, _'what the hell was that? Why am I defending this girl?'_

OoOo

"Beth, Beth!" Cried Pete as he rushed at the girl in the hall of the courthouse.

"No need to run like that Pete," blandly assure Beth, "I'm not going anywhere."

"Oh," The young journalist laughed and rubbed the back of his neck, "I just kind-a expected you to run away from me like you always do. Have you finally accepted me as a frie-!"

"Don't flatter yourself, Briggs," flatly stated Beth. "So you had something you wanted to talk to me about?"

With his brow furrowed since he was still offended that she interrupted him, Pete replied, "Yeah. The environmentalists want to speak with you."

Beth snorted and then snarkily said, "Oh, so they have an actual interest in my case? I'm sorry if I'm not protesting alongside them."

"The environmentalists have been trying to schedule a meeting with you for weeks now, Beth," Pete said as he followed the young woman in step as she began to walk towards the entrance.

"Have they really," she cocked an eyebrow in question.

"Well, actually, no they haven't," the journalist confessed, "but I only said that to try to make you happy."

"Lying to me isn't going to make me happy, Pete." She informed him. However, her apprehension about what the environmentalists expected of her put a toll on her conscience. "Uh...Pete, I got somethin' I have to tell you."

"What is it?" He curiously ask while he pushed on the doors exiting out of the City Hall.

When the doors opened, Beth wasn't met with the same single-issue group. They seemed to have sent only a handful of people and they looked a lot less argumentative than the last time she seen them._ 'These clowns again. Well, let's get this over with.'_

"Hello," greeted Pete. "I'm glad to see that you've agreed to speak with Miss Bethany."

One of the protesters spoke up, "Only to see if she's truly doing this for the sake of the environment and not for fame."

Ever attempting to be her knight-in-shining armor, Pete said, "She would never do something like that. Bethany -well- she's a good girl."

_'You make it sound like I'm some sort of pet.'_ She thought bemusedly to herself.

"How come you always speak for her? Why doesn't she do it herself?" A lady with a red floral dress called out.

Just when Beth was about to open her mouth to show that she could indeed speak for herself, another person from the small group of environmentalists shouted. "Look, it's the Once-ler!"

Why did it always feel like time slowed down just for this smug-faced man? He walked passed the flashing cameras and news reporters as if he weren't there. His family followed behind and stroked their own egos as they answered the reporters inquiries. The tall, green-suited man could careless as he desperately wanted to get back to his factory and work. Bethany watched as he climbed into his car. Before his chauffeur shut the car door, the sight of the young woman caught his eye.

"When will that man ever stop and see what damage he is doing?" wailed an environmentalist.

Turning back to face Beth, the woman in the floral dress asked, "Will you help us stop him, Miss Bethany?"

Looking about at the single-issued group and then turning her dark gaze up towards the Once-ler family; Beth knew she could not lie to these people. Her father would look down upon it. 'The true and honest way is the most satisfying on one's karma.' She could practically hear him whisper in her ear. She won't make that same mistake again and dishonor her father's teachings.

Taking a deep breath and exhaling to calm her nerves before she confessed, "My form of stopping the Once-ler would probably not be on your agenda. Actually, I don't think we even share the same agenda."

"What do you mean?" The woman in floral asked.

And Pete from the side of her cautiously uttered, "Uh, Beth?"

"To be quite honest with you," she hesitantly began and paused for a moment to stall, "I only really want the Once-ler to leave me and my land alone."

"I beg your pardon," said one of the environmentalists in exasperation.

"You call yourselves environmentalists, right? So, why do I see some of your members wearing Thneeds?" Beth challenged.

"We are not concerned at the Thneeds," The floral dressed woman stepped up and took over the role as spokesperson. "We are protesting against the way that the Once-ler is producing them. Have you not seen the destruction of the valley he has done? The smoke that his factory is producing is not only blocking out our sun, it's damaging our air. Glup is getting into the water supply. Do I even need to address what's happening to the animals in the valley as well. If no one stands up to this man than nothing is going to get better. There's no magical Lorax to save us!"

_'And that's where you're wrong.'_ Beth thought before she quickly responded, "Listen guys, I appreciate what you all are doing. That's great that you want to protect our earth but just don't expect me to be out there with ya."

"Then," the woman huffed out, "what's the point of your trying to protect your land? Do you not see the health hazards that will hit you if you do win?"

_'Oh!'_ Beth realized how true that statement was, but she was just as stubborn as Melvin. She jutted her chin high. "I'll just have to deal with the consequences on my own then."

"You're just as looney as the Once-ler!" Someone yelled out.

"Hey, I didn't ask for that guy to come to the Truffula Valley and start becoming all axe-happy," Beth raise her hands in her plea.

"Yes, but you aren't trying to stop him. You have lived in the valley all your life. Is it not entirely your home? However, from what you've been saying during this meeting, I don't think you're going to receive any support from our organization." The woman in floral's statement felt like a dead weight was dropped and no one was going to attempt to swim to the bottom and retrieve. At least that's what it felt like for Pete. All the environmentalists followed behind the woman as she strolled away with her nose in the air.

Completely outraged, Pete Briggs snatched Beth's wrist and dragged her away from the courthouse. The annoyed girl tried to make his hand release her, but she surprisingly could not. Once the journalist took them to the gazebo in the town square, he finally flung her hand back to her. Glaring but only in hurt filled defense, Beth rubbed at her sore wrist. Pete rounded so fast that Bethany couldn't help the flinch she gave.

"Why?" He angrily questioned, "Why did you say that? Do you not know how vital it is for you to have people on your side? Do you want the Once-ler to take away your land? To destroy your home?"

"Of course not," whispered Beth.

"Yeah, obviously." Pete scoffed, "listen here Beth, I was right about how you need to rethink how you treat people because this whole chip-on-your-shoulder act isn't winning you any friends."

"Well," Beth started as she felt her own boiling anger rattling the lid of the pot, "what did you expect me to do? Lie to them? I thought you had a better opinion about me than that."

"I do have a good opinion about you, Beth," Pete's voice lowered as he became more serious by the moment. She looked away from him and placed her hands on her hips as she contemplated over his words. "However, sometimes I can't help but to blame your father with the way you turned out."

Alarmed and a little bit hurt by his words, Beth returned her gaze back up to the journalist's. "What? What did you just say?" She whispered.

"You heard me."

Out of her disbelief, indignation rose up and inquiring in the deadliest voice she could utter, "How _dare_ you say that."

"It's true, Beth." Stated Pete. "People's been-!"

"My father was a great, honest man and everybody knew it!"

"That doesn't change the fact that what he's done to you was _unfair_ and _wrong!_" Claimed Pete.

Glaring suspiciously, Bethany asked, "What are you talking about?"

Pete heaved a sigh before he reasoned with, "Ever since I could remember, everyone's been saying that how your father kept you away from social interaction was not right of him. He kept you away from society."

Getting fed up with Pete's words already, Beth quietly pleaded, "Stop it."

"He told you -no- he ordered you not to interact-!"

"Stop!" Beth demanded to no avail.

"-with people and _you_ know it. _You_ know-!"

"Shut up, Pete!"

"-it wasn't fair. _You_ wanted out of that oppression."

"Pete!"

"Now that he's gone and you have your freedom-!"

"-Shut up!"

"-you don't know what to do or how to treat others!"

The silence followed after, like the ignorant bliss of a lamb. Beth held a look that was filled with such sorrow and hurt. She walked passed him, purposely bumping her shoulder against his, and both people kept their backs to each other.

Breathing deeply several times before saying, "Pete, I don't want you ever speaking to me again." And she left the gazebo without a second glance. Pete turned to watch the young woman head in the direction of her home in the Truffula Valley.

OoOo

The delicious smell of food circulated throughout the dining hall within the Thneed factory. After placing the plate that held a succulent sirloin steak, mashed potatoes with brown gravy, and golden little bits of corn in front of Once-ler, one of his many butlers scurried off to attend to the other family members at the long dining table. Grumbling to himself as he viciously cut his steak, he couldn't help to find it odd that his mother requested for him to eat dinner within the dining hall. Ever since the thousandth Thneed had been sold, Once-ler had stop eating with his family; his only excuse was that he didn't have time to. And even if Isabella would ask him to join the family, he would always decline. Except this time, there was something urgent in her tone when she asked him.

There she sat to his left. Resting her sharp chin on her laced fingers, while she studying him critically out of a mother's usual fuss or just in her own secret disgust. Just as her Oncie was about to put a piece of steak in his mouth, Isabella professed, "Oncie, I need to talk to you about something."

"Okay, what is it?" He paused to ask before popping the small portion of food in his mouth.

"It's about the whole court dispute with this Arbore girl," she softly said in her Southern accent.

Speaking around his food, he replied, "I told you I'm already taking care of it."

"Mmhmm..." Isabella nodded her head in mock agreement, "I can see that, dear, but I think that it's taking way too long for this to end."

"Stuff like this takes time, Mom." Retorted Once-ler while he cut a new area in his steak.

"Things need to, well, speed up! It seems as though you and this girl are dancin' around in circles," Isabella reacted by placing her hand over his left one, "And I know that girl is not going to accept anythin' you offer her."

Once-ler stopped eating and looked over at his mother; in a lot of cases, his motivation(even if she never said a word of encouragement to him). Taking her words of advice probably won't hurt him. After all, he wouldn't be where he is with his business if she hadn't suggested to chop down the trees again.

"This whole court thing is a mess. It's leavin' you stressed and tired," She placed her other hand over her heart as she started to talk in a baby voice. It really grated on the Once-ler's nerves. "It's also gettin' in the way of your work which, I know irritates you. Would you like some of my two-cents?"

He nodded his head once and asked, "What do you suggest?"

"I'm just goin' to say this and let you figure out what to do, okay?" Isabella stood from her seat and replaced her hand to rest upon his thin shoulder. "Sometimes you need to play a little dirty to get the things you want in life."

Bending down to give him a swift peck on the cheek, Isabella turned her back to him. However before she would walk away from her youngest son, she looked over her shoulder at him to give a final say, "Oncie, I'm only sayin' this once more: end this before it goes on any longer."

* * *

_A/N: S__tangone(1): Italian term of endearment that mean Beanpole._

___Also, you all are interested, I've made a Rise of the Guardians fanfic. It would be real sweet of you guys if you checked it out, please. That's it for now! Please leave a review for me. They make me happy. _


	14. Chapter 14: Macavity

_A/N: Hellar! Thanks for the reviews, favorites, follows, and/or stopping by to read this. You guys are awesome possums and I love you all. Busy past couple of weeks I had, let me tell ya! But I don't want to bore you all with that. It's just school related and whatnot. But also my google docs is being a butt-head lately and I had to write the rest of this chapter on here. Sorry if there are major mistakes. Also I am very happy! I finally beat my first fanfic's view count with this story! Thank you guys! This chapter's title is from Cats the Musical's Macavity. That was my first musical I ever saw when I was a kid and I still love it. Btw, if you listen to the song, you'll see why I chose it for this chapter. Happy reading! _

_****__DISCLAIMER!: I DON'T OWN ANY OF THE LORAX CHARACTERS! ALL RIGHTS GO TO DR. SEUSS AND ILLUMINATION ENTERTAINMENT!_

* * *

The Hanging Tree

Chapter 14:

Macavity

* * *

_"The measure of a man is what he does with power." ― Plato_

Since the beginning of his business, lying had become one of his many terrible habits now. Strangely, he did not feel any remorse when he sent the first small town store out of business due to his Thneed. Then again, the store owner came crawling to him the next day, begging for a job, and of course, he gave that old man what he groveled for. It doesn't sound that bad, now does it? At least, that's what he likes to tell himself on a daily basis. This saying went along with the paintings of the Truffula trees he had hung on the hall ways. They were just something to appease his conscience and to deny the reality of his actions.

Sometimes he wondered if it all started when he broke his promise to the Lorax. _'No I didn't break my promise, but even if I did, I had to do what was best for the company. He just doesn't understand that.'_

Blowing some air out while his back was to his selected coworkers, Once-ler scribbled down some notes around one of his charts. The young entrepreneur turned back around and met the gazes of several of his attentive listeners. Starting off with a broad meeting already felt like it wasn't meant to be his day. He talked about various things involving a new promotion with his Thneed and coming to make deals with several different corporations.

The next court hearing was not scheduled until the first Monday of next month, which would be January. It seemed so strange that it had been a whole month and a half having to deal with this nonsense with that wretched woman.

Thankfully, the meeting drew to an end. Once-ler's long legs were able to put him in a stride that quickly led him to his next destination. His twin brothers followed not too short of him and held open the office doors for the Thneed inventor. No words passed between the three brothers. Once-ler liked to tell himself it was because he had no time for idle chit-chat anymore, not when there are so many meetings he had to attend and towers of paperwork.

He busied himself with mentioned paperwork before his next required meeting with some associates for lunch. These associates were other big-business men that Once-ler only interacted with for entirely superficial reasons; being acquainted with them made him and Thneed Co. look good.

After writing his name off on some agreement with another company that wanted to integrate into Thneedville once its construction was finished, Once-ler leaned back in his red desk chair. He looked about his cluttered desk, over at the miniature model of Thneedville, and back to his desk. Then cobalt eyes caught sight of the photo his lumbermen had took. The sharp edge poked out of some papers and a teasing view of dirty-blonde hair could be slightly seen. Elegantly long fingers, which any pianist would die for, grabbed the edge of the picture and tugged until it got free.

Eyes that were like those of a doe caught in headlights stared back; wide and surprised. They seemed to have burned their way into his memory now, and even when he exited his office to then drive for hours to the nearest town. In his mind's eye, as one of the waiters escorted him to the booth, he pictured her sitting within the witness stand and to hold her same stormy eyes that smoldered into his own challengingly. He wondered if those same eyes would silently plead for his mercy.

Who would have thought that a small woman like Bethany Arbore could live on her own within an untamed forest? A headstrong woman who should have easily succumbed to his offers like so many of the other weak willed people in Greenville; just like him with greed. If she was to win their dispute, how would that look on his company? What would his associates think of him, or worse yet, his family? This was just another obstacle. An obstacle that he will conquer.

Suddenly a large hand heavily landed on the Once-ler's thin shoulders. The young inventor looked to his left at a large mustached face; it was Mr. Goldbrick, owner of one of the many companies that Thneed made a compromise with. At some point most of the other entrepreneurs had already arrived while he was far away in his thoughts. His fellow business owners stared back at the Thneed inventor with curious eyes. Once-ler soon realized that he was scowling and quickly wiped it off.

"Hey there champ," the much more bulkier man clapped Once-ler on the back again, "you don't look too friendly today. Something wrong?"

Running his hands through his mop of black hair, Once-ler tried to cease his racing thoughts. The mere thought of that girl just puts him in a foul mood. He certainly did not want to be sour around his acquaintances. However, said acquaintances, oblivious to his detest of the woman, decided to bring her up.

"So," began Theophrastus LeSieg, who was a major business tycoon (Everybody just called him Theo). "I've heard that you're still stuck in court with that saucy little bird."

Goldbrick let out a hearty laugh and causing his pot-belly jiggling in the process. Then he said, "That's quite a waste of money on something so simple to fix, m'boy."

"Oh, and what would you have done?" Once-ler directed towards Goldbrick. He tried to keep the bite out of his tone and attempted to sound genuinely curious; the key words are 'tried' and 'attempted,' but his cocked eyebrow gave him away.

"Any smart and successful business man would have gotten rid of unnecessary details," Goldrick replied with a hint gleeful maliciousness.

"If I didn't know any better," Theo started slowly as he watched the casual swirl of his drink, "I would have thought you wanted to give the girl a fair chance to win."

"Isn't it said the best feeling is when you win something the fair way?" Once-ler retorted. He rested his chin in his green-gloved palm, ignoring the roarish laughter from Goldbrick, and focusing solely on LeSieg. The small glass that rested next to his other hand had not even been touched by the youngest millionaire. He didn't feel the need to drink at the moment.

"Son," as Goldbrick spoke, Once-ler could smell the intense smell of liquor from his breath, "you and I both know that you are far too gone for that little speech! Hell, we're all far too gone! Our morals are just as crooked as a homeless man's rotten teeth."

"Calm down, Goldbrick," LeSieg said coolly. He looked up to meet Once-ler's cerulean eyes.

For the rest of the day, it felt like the Once-ler was left in a haze. His conscience should not be this conflicted. Did he not do well by contributing to the economy and employment rate? He remembered one particular argument with the Lorax where he said, "Well, what do you want? I should shut down my factory, fire a hundred-thousand workers? Is that good economics, is that sound for the country?"

Yet he could not continue being mock by the fact that he could not win against a girl who was of lower status than him.

Playing with the squishy, white texture of a marshmallow between his forefinger and thumb, Once-ler sat slouched in his ginormous velvet chair and looked out the windows at the dying forest. Long legs outstretched before him and one foot crossed over the other. The words that his mother said to him continued within his mind, _'Sometimes you need to play a little dirty to get the things you want in life.'_

Just then Once-ler popped the marshmallow into his mouth. He knew exactly what he had to do.

OoOo

Releasing a giant yawn and stretching her limbs like an wakening cat, Theresa Wiggins was more than ready to finish up work so she could head home. A loud squeal from her chair made the receptionist cringe in discomfort as she wheeled away from her desk. She slipped her evening coat on and slung her handbag over her shoulder. Her heels clacked against the marble flooring as she wandered over to her boss' office. Just before Theresa could make her presence known, she touched up her curly, chocolate-brown hair and smoothed out any wrinkles within her skirt.

"Heading home, Mrs. Wiggins," Mr. Schmitz observed rather than asked. Theresa quickly shut her mouth since her boss beat her to vocalizing her retreat from work.

"Um, yes, I was," Theresa replied and fidgeted uncomfortably within her spot in the doorway. "Mr. Schmitz, I'd like to ask you something, if that is alright."

Round glasses slid slightly down the bridge of Schmitz's gaunt nose as he peered up at his receptionist. He shuffled the papers within his hands a few times before he snapped, "What?"

"Well, you see, sir, it's about Ms. Bethany," Theresa quipped. "The poor girl is having some serious trouble with money lately. She has not mentioned anything to me but my daughter, Norma, saw Bethany the other day selling what seemed to be her personals."

"What do you expect me to do, Mrs. Wiggins? Lower my work fee?" He questioned with an ugly sneer. "We all have to sacrifice to get what we want. I can't lower it, not for her nor for your motherly sympathy. Go home Mrs. Wiggins. I'll see you in the morning."

Theresa opened her mouth to protest but thought better of it, and left the law firm without biding a farewell.

Hiding in the shadows, three figures watched as Mrs. Wiggins left the building and waited until she completely disappeared in the distance. Then they moved forward. The entrance bell jangled cheerily and two bulky people stalked behind their tall lanky leader. The green-suited man allowed the two other men to enter into Schmitz's office first.

The old attorney looked up with alarm at the intimidating men's sudden presence.

"I'm afraid, gentlemen," Schmitz gulped, "that if you're looking for an attorney, you're gonna have to come back tomorrow. My firm is closed right now."

"I assure you, Mr. Schmitz," Then the Once-ler announced himself and pushed aside his twin brothers, "they don't need an attorney."

Schmitz's eyes widened for a bit before they narrowed in suspicion. He asked, "What do you want, Mr. Once-ler?

"You and I are both very busy men so, I'll make this quick." The Once-ler said as he inspected his green gloves casually. "I want to end this dispute with Miss Arbore, but I want to win."

"I'm sure Miss Arbore wants to win as much as you do, Mr. Once-ler," Schmitz stated.

"I can't allow that to happen," cerulean-blues cut their way to Mr. Schmitz's and revealed that he intended to commit a wicked deed. "That is why I came to you."

"I work for Miss Arbore, if you had not realized. What could I possibly do to benefit you, the opposing party?" The attorney challenged and felt his natural fighting spirit ignite.

Chet lifted a black suitcase and set it on Schmitz's desk. He unlocked and opened it to reveal a large amount of money. Schmitz's stern eyes gazed down at the green-papered money and for the longest time he did not say a word.

Then, "What exactly do you want me to do?"

In that moment, the Once-ler knew he had got what he wanted and gave a satisfied smirk.

* * *

_A/N: If you all can't tell, I don't know anything about business. So sorry for the vagueness. One other thing, this chapter is intentional short. The shortest so far I believe. _

_Guest: Thanks for stopping by to review! _

_Nory: Thank you! I'm happy that you like this story so much! _


	15. Chapter 15: Ain't No Rest For The Wicked

_A/N: Bonjour! __Thanks for the reviews, favorites, follows, and/or stopping by to read this. You guys are beyond awesome and I love you! Oh wow! I was simply amazed at the amount of reviews I got last chapter. That's a lot. I'm sorry I kept you all waiting. Life constantly gets in the way. This chapter was originally gonna be longer but I didn't want to keep you all waiting any longer. Hope I haven't lost any of you guys. You all have a great Easter tomorrow. You're awesome and don't let anyone tell you other wise. This chapter's title is from Cage The Elephant's Ain't No Rest For The Wicked. Happy reading!_

_**DISCLAIMER!:**_**_ I DON'T OWN ANY OF THE LORAX CHARACTERS! ALL RIGHTS GO TO DR. SEUSS AND ILLUMINATION ENTERTAINMENT!_**

* * *

The Hanging Tree

Chapter 15:

Ain't No Rest For The Wicked

* * *

_"Men are so simple and yield so readily to the desires of the moment that he who will trick will always find another who will suffer to be tricked." - Niccolo Machiavelli._

Depressing. That was the only word that Beth could use to describe how the truffula trees looked. The tufts' color was bland and faded now. Their once proud trunks were curved in defeat like they were just waiting to be finished off. Beth knew the valley did not look this way because it was winter. The words of the environmentalists rang within her memory every time she, the Lorax, or the forest animals let out a harsh cough. Smelling the air outside made her gag, which resorted to her frequent stays indoors. However, whenever she looks out her window, she'd see Carlotta or Melvin laying miserably in the stables. They were getting sick.

After pulling on her heavy parka and opening the backdoor, worn yellow boots crunched along the freshly fallen snow. There was something that told Beth that the white bounty before her was dangerous and toxic._ 'Is this what it looks like before death decides to finally come'_, she wonders.

The weak whiney of Melvin begged for Beth's attention. Her hand came to rest against the mule's prickly snout to then glide up and brush his short fur. Then she stopped altogether when her dark eyes settled on her billy-goat. The poor animal laid sprawled on the hay and appeared ill.

"Oh, Carlotta," Beth cooed as she knelt down to her old pet. She took the goat's head and set it on her lap as she stroked her lovingly. However, she stopped mid-stroke when her fingers became covered in the black glup. It had appeared that Carlotta had drank from the river and consumed the gluppity-glup. "I'm so sorry."

Beth knew if her father was still around, he would have ended Carlotta's suffering. But, Beth was not completely like Gregori and could not end this animal's life. Once again, if Gregori was to witness Beth in this situation, he would have given her the rare comparison to her mother. There was only one solution the girl could think of in that moment.

"I'll make everything better. Don't you worry," whispered Beth. Her tan hand ran through Carlotta's short prickly fur. Even as her dear friend lay before her suffering, Beth refused to let the tears welling in her eyes to fall.

In the next half hour, Beth hitched Melvin to the wagon. Scooping the goat into her arms and carrying her over to the wagon's bed, the young woman gently laid her on the scratchy blanket that was spread across. Carlotta fidgeted slightly in her place. To ease the goat's anxiety, Beth sooth her by saying, "You're going to be in good hands, Carlotta."

OoOo

"Mrs. Wiggins!" Schmitz called from his office and not very long, his receptionist poked her head in the doorway.

"You hollered," Theresa replied.

"See to it that Ms. Arbore is aware of a meeting I have scheduled for us this Wednesday at ten o' clock." The old attorney commanded as he began to write down information.

"Yes, sir," said Theresa and for a moment, she lingered.

Mr. Schmitz noticed her hesitation and exclaimed, "What are you waiting for? Move woman!"

Mrs. Wiggins jumped but she only mumbled a 'Yes, sir' before she quickly dashed out of her boss's office. The wind blew harshly as Mrs. Wiggins stepped out of the law firm. Luckily, it was a slow day and there were no other appointments from clients so, it would be easy for her to slip away for a while. Her skirt billowed while she walked down the cobbled-stone street. She had no idea where to search for Bethany. Her visits into town were usually spontaneous, infrequent, or only for meetings. She'd be blessed if she could find the younger woman.

"It would help if she'd just reveal where her house is," Theresa mumbled behind her scarf. However, she thanked her lucky stars when a familiar face caught her eye. Relief flooded over the woman before she exclaimed, "Bethany!"

There was something very odd to the curve of Beth's back, Mrs. Wiggins noted. Nonetheless, the girl looked around for the source that bellowed her name. Once she found Theresa, Beth slowly began to walk over to the receptionist. The mule that Beth had with her, followed closely behind.

"Mrs. Wiggins," Beth acknowledged and nodded her head in greeting.

"I'm so happy to have found you," The older woman breathed. "Mr. Schmitz has requested to inform you that your next meeting with him will be this Wednesday at ten in the morning."

"Did he say what it's about?" Beth asked as her face scrunched up in confusion.

"He did not," Theresa replied and shook her head. She opened her mouth to say more before she eyed Melvin and the cart he was hooked up to. "I'll leave you now. It appears that you are busy. Goodbye Beth."

"Goodbye," Bethany whispered while she watched her only friend walk down the cobble street.

OoOo

Wednesday came, and Beth had arrived early to Schmitz's Law Firm. Entering into the firm, Beth waved at Theresa and then sat down to wait for her turn.

It was a little difficult leaving her house that morning. The outside looked too horrendous that it almost fear about her health. Beyond her house, she could hear a distinct sound of machinery and the great fall of trees. They were getting closer every day.

"Bethany," the young woman looked up at Mrs. Wiggins, "he's ready for you now."

It didn't take long to find Schmitz's office down the same hallway she'd been walking down since that October afternoon. Lingering in his doorway, Beth called, "Mr. Schmitz" and the old attorney looked up from his paperwork. Immediately, Beth noticed the stiffness in his shoulders and the strange way his eyes would avoid hers.

"Aw, Ms. Arbore," Schmitz warmly greeted. "Please have a seat."

Beth did, while giving the old man a suspicious look. She quickly inquired, "What have you called me here for?"

Her abruptness surprised Schmitz who then composed himself and ready his wits for her next response. He gave a soft chuckle before stating, "Quick to the point, as always, Ms. Arbore." -Her glare only hardened.- "Anyways, I would like to discuss with you about my fee."

"We've already done that."

"Well, sometimes I may have to raise my price at times. These are hard times for us all," Schmitz says. "I need you to pay you to pay fifteen percent more than you have been."

"What! No!" Refused Beth and she nearly jumped out of her seat. "I'm already paying you enough as is."

"Yes, yes you are but," He said slowly, while keeping a steady eye on the ill-tempered girl, "if you want me to help you to win this court battle, then you need to contribute more. Money doesn't grow on trees. You of all people should know this. Don't you want to make your father proud? Don't you want to save his land, for him? Do it for your father."

So, with a heavy heart and a worn soul, Beth did as her attorney requested.

OoOo

"Happy New Year!" Cheered the Thneed Co. employees as they continued on with their celebration; drinking, dancing, or gossiping. A party had been thrown at the factory in honor of the new year. The Once-ler could not deny his workers a good time. They did so much for him. they helped his dream continue on, how could he not do this for them.

However, Once-ler did not feel like joining the festivities this time. He felt the need to mentally prepare himself for court on Monday and he swore he would win. No more beating around the bush. He's done trying to break the mustang that is Bethany Arbore. He'll get what he wants, even if it's by force. Swear to it, he shall.

* * *

_A/N: ____Special shout out goes to UnluckyAmulet for pointing out some of my mistakes in my earlier chapters. Thank you! Your review really made me smile. Also another goes to Bellechat for always being there and being a faithful reader for both this story and my RotG fic. You're awesome and don't let anyone tell you other wise._

_____My sister stated before that my fic is really depressing. Thanks for reading!_


	16. Chapter 16: Razzle Dazzle

_A/N: Salutations! ____Thanks for the reviews, favorites, follows, and/or stopping by to read this. I really appreciate it guys and you all are amazing! So, this past month has been crazy with state testing, AP tests, and finals. I'm so ready for the summer. Also happy Mother's Day everyone! How many of you are? This chapter title is from the musical Chicago's Razzle Dazzle. Happy reading!_

_**DISCLAIMER!:**_**_ I DON'T OWN ANY OF THE LORAX CHARACTERS! ALL RIGHTS GO TO DR. SEUSS AND ILLUMINATION ENTERTAINMENT!_**

* * *

The Hanging Tree

Chapter 16:

Razzle Dazzle

* * *

_"If you have to dry the dishes / And you drop one on the floor / Maybe they won't let you / Dry the dishes anymore" ― Shel Silverstein, 'A Light in the Attic'_

The Once-ler family arrived early to the courthouse on the first Monday of January. So when the young entrepreneur walked out into the hall, he did not expect to see Bethany. Lucky for Once-ler, Beth did not notice him for she stood staring at a grand painting of the Truffula Valley. For whatever reason, he felt compelled to gain the young woman's attention. Making a beeline, Once-ler stood approximately two feet beside her and acted as though he too was admiring the artwork. Instead, his cerulean-blue eyes took in her attire with disgust. He'd never met a woman in his life that cared so little about her appearance.

"Are you as prepared as me, Ms. Arbore?" The Once-ler resisted the urge to smirk when Beth jumped at his question. Obviously, she did not sense his presence while standing next to her. He realized that she looked flushed and exhausted. He wondered if this is what she was like once backed into a corner.

In that moment, as the young woman fixed him with a withering glare that he matched, Once-ler began one of his many musings on the survival of the fittest. Being an alpha was something that he came to assume himself to be when his Thneed took off, but what was the Arbore woman before him? Was she a prey for his alpha to catch in a game of 'cat and mouse?' Or rather, is she another alpha that he had tread into her territory and they are both battling over it? Now that he really thought about it, yes, she is an alpha. However, very soon she will recognize him as the only alpha and bare her neck in submission.

Neither of the two would back down. It was only in their nature; for the Once-ler, he had came too far in the game of success, while Beth cherished her home. Protection, that's what it was. They were only protecting themselves (home, status, business, the Truffula Valley) from the threat of each other. Both parties would never be satisfied until they saw the other's loss. Unfortunately, there can not be any agreements and one must lose for the other to win.

Only the strong will survive and learn a way to thrive.

When Beth gave no reply to Once-ler's question, it did not surprise him. It became apparent to him, long after his first meeting with her, that this woman would not have any interest in him. He could see why she would, but that didn't mean her completely disregarding him left a feeling of panic. Returned the dread of being unwanted within the Once-ler.

He looked at the wretched woman in a new light now and concluded that he needed to get rid of her. She caused too many troubles.

"Ms. Arbore," Once-ler finally broke the silence and lend in ever so slightly towards her to whisper, "If the court decision favors me over you, don't take it personally. It's _just_ business."

With the bright shade of angry-red that Beth turned, Once-ler suspected that he may have a chance to break her.

Their court meeting finally came. Beth stared a hole into her side's table while the Once-ler's attorney talked. Beth glanced out of the corner of her eye at hers and noticed that Schmitz was not even listening. Scribbling down on a piece of paper, she slid it sneakily over to him and much to her surprise, he read it. He jotted down a reply and returned it to her side.

It said: _"Do not fret Ms. Arbore. I am well aware what is occurring within this courtroom."_

Frowning deeper, Beth decided to leave the man alone and looked forward.

Up in the stand now was the Once-ler and a certain air of confidence circulated about him. Schmitz stood in front of him and both men locked eyes; like a silent message being passed amongst the two. Schmitz turned his back on the entrepreneur and began to pace.

"Mr. Once-ler, when you first arrived at Ms. Arbore's residents, what was discussed between the both of you?" Schmitz asks, never once turning to face him nor in Beth's direction.

"I've stated it before and I'll state it again: I tried to negotiate with Ms. Arbore, but she became incredibly hostile towards me. She even went so far as to use violence against me." The whole room went hush when Once-ler's words tumbled from his lips. Almost every single pair of eyes within the courtroom fixed upon Beth harden into razor-sharp glares.

Within the sun-kissed girl, her anger boiled and wanting to explode any given moment.

"What did she do that you consider so violent, Mr. Once-ler?"

Fringing offense, Once-ler placed his hand over his heart and gave his best heartfelt expression. "Why it was the most painful thing I had ever experienced in my life, sir! That girl turned her goat on me, it rammed me right in my midsection. Left a nasty bruise there too."

Silence once again, Beth leaning forward in her seat, and expecting Schmitz to say, "What did you expect to happen? You intruded on her land, her home. She has every right to do such things to the likes of you!" However, to her utter dread, the elderly attorney did not do as he was expected, he did not defend Beth.

"That will be all, Mr. Once-ler," said Schmitz and he returned back to his seat.

Beth slouched back in disbelief. When Schmitz sat down, she sneered at him and aggressively inquired, "What was that? I'm paying you to defend me, remember!"

He looked down the bridge of his gaunt nose at her, before he snottily said, "How many times do I have to tell you not to worry, girl?"

"If that's the case, then you shouldn't be giving me reason to pester you about doing your job correctly."

"Get back to me about doing my job 'correctly' when you get a law degree," he hissed, "you insufferable little girl."

With promise burning in her coal-black eyes, Beth stated, "I will."

Meanwhile, a man slid a folder into the hands of the green-suited Once-ler and then blended back into the crowds just like he was any average person. The young-billionaire thumbed through the folder before he passed it to Mr. Brown. The pudgy man took it, scanned it, and then stood.

"I call Ms. Arbore to the stand," declared.

Casting Schmitz one more glare before Beth stood and made her way up to the witness stand.

"There's something I like to address here, Ms. Arbore," Brown smoothly said, "you've lived on that piece of land your whole life with your father, correct?"

Warily, Beth gave a, "Yes."

"Your father owned it until his unfortunate death, right?" Brown questioned with a hinted of sympathy given towards the girl.

It was more difficult to confirm outloud, but Beth somehow managed whisper, "Yes, but his deed passed down to me. It's mine."

"Are you confident in that, Ms. Arbore? I have here in my hands confirmation that you do not own that little patch," he proclaimed and waved the folder above his head. Then he pulled out a specifically selected paper and held it before her. "If you would do me the honors by reading aloud here for me."

Cautiously, she did take the paper from Mr. Brown and did as he requested:

"The Truffula Valley property will not exceed towards anyone, that includes offspring(s) or relatives. After death, it will returned to being apart of the wilderness of the Valley, as it rightfully should, and be owned by no one."

Beth closed her eyes tightly. What had she gotten herself into?

"Do you know what that means, Ms. Arbore?" Brown searched her body language for the answer before the girl could voice a reply.

Taking a shaky breath and opening her eyes once again, Beth responded, "I do actually." -All at once, Beth's mood changed in an instant. Her building rage unleashed itself at last.- "How did you get a hold of my father's will?"

Defences rose and the air in the courtroom became suffocating. Mr. Brown gave a thin smile before answering, "It's just a little information to benefit Mr. Once-ler."

"How can you stand there and say that?" Angered, Beth nearly rose her voice to a scream. Her knuckles turned white from gripping the seat. "That is strictly private and against conduct! Not only that, it's breaking the law!"

"Oh no, Ms. Arbore. There have been no law breaking here." Mr. Brown professed. "You see, there are many things going against you Ms. Arbore. Why don't you just remove yourself off that land and stop all this commotion? Do some of us a favor and end this."

"No," Beth icily uttered.

"Thank you Ms. Arbore, that is all."

The court hearing ended several minutes later and Judge Waterloo announced, "The final decision of this court case will given on the next Friday."

The news reporters swarmed around the Once-lers and Bethany when they tried to exit. Beth began to get pushed by the crowd asking angry questions and before she knew it, she ran straight into someone. When Beth turned half way to apologize, she froze at the sight of who she had bumped. Ice blue eyes stared down passed a perky nose and directly at Beth; there was disgust written all over the older blond woman's face. Beth clearly knew who this woman was, for she was the Once-ler's mother.

Isabella gasped obnoxiously and screeched, "How dare _you_ touch _me!_"

"Excuse me," Beth incredulously began, "it was an accident. Get over it."

Surprised that Beth actually had the gall to talk back to a woman of money, Isabella then developed a wicked plan. Fast as an rattle snake, mother Once-ler snatched both Beth's wrists and flung the both of them backwards. Everyone spread out when the two women collided on the floor and cameras flashed as Isabella screamed and bellowed. Beth sat atop Isabella in what appeared to be aggression with the older woman still holding onto her wrists.

"This crazy trollop attacked me!" She cried, while Beth looked around confused and disoriented; it happened so fast she had no idea what had occurred. "Get her off, get her off! She's insane!"

Once-ler's bodyguards heaved Beth off Isabella and holding her tightly. After Brett and Chet helped their mother from the ground, she pointed a finger at Bethany. "Take that filthy girl to the police! I don't ever want to see her ever again." The bodyguards nodded and took a flailing Beth with them to the police station.

Smug, Isabella looked over at her youngest son with pride. However, Once-ler was not all too proud of the horrendous scene his mother had caused. Once in the their limousine, he turned on his mother with a scowl, "What was that back there Mom? Why did you do that?"

In her sickeningly sweet voice, Isabella replied, "Oh Oncie, Mama was only trying to help further your cause. No need to get angry at me."

"I have every right to be angry at you," chastised Once-ler, "I don't need you interfering in this. It is my affair that I can handle on my own."

His mother's lips pursed and her brow knitted together agitated. Isabella proclaimed, "If that's what you want, then I hope you lose this court battle. Don't expect any support from your family ever again."

No more words were exchanged among the Once-lers. The other family member who witness Isabella and her youngest spat looked at one another awkwardly before turning towards the windows to watch the dead Truffula Valley go by.

OoOo

"Thank heavens that you are alright Bethany," gushed Mrs. Wiggins as she crushed Beth in a hug. The pretty brunette did not expect to receive a phone call from Beth to help bail her out of prison that night. It certainly shook her as it felt too much as if her own children were put in a horrid place. "Let's get you home and give you a nice warm bath. You deserve it."

When they were there and Beth sat soaking in the tub. Her thoughts collected together and rethought of what had occurred during this day. Her nerves were on edge, every word in her father's will burned into her memory, and she had no plan what to do now if she did, in fact, lose the court ruling. She had been so confident when she entered into this. Why did she think her opponent would not have his guns ready just as much as she would? It's obvious that he would, he's a rich man after all and one whose ego is bloated beyond belief.

"Norma," called Beth. "Are my clothes clean and dried?

A preteen girl with unruly chocolate-brown curls bounded into the washroom. In her arms were a bundle mess of Beth's clothes. The young woman gave her a small smile and thought, _'She tried. That's all that counts.'_

Despite her odd fascination with the Once-ler, Norma couldn't bring herself to dislike Bethany; the teenager actually thought it was cool that Beth lived out in the Valley. The young girl still possessed a bit of her "baby fat," but her figure gave promise to a perfect hourglass once completely grown.

"Are you returning back to the Truffula Forest now, Ms. Bethany?" Norma asked. She covered her eyes when Beth started to lift herself from the tub. After toweling off, Beth moved on to dressing herself. Then she went and sat at the vanity, waiting for Norma to grab the blow dryer.

"Soon," Beth answered, "After you fix my hair, Norma."

Scampering over to Beth, Norma plugged in the blow dryer. The hot air that blew out swept over Beth lovingly and she relished in the feeling, enjoying this moment of peace. Ten minutes later, her hair became completely dried and Norma began brushing it.

"I wish my hair was this color," Norma confessed while she slowly threaded the brush down Beth's hair. "Yours is so pretty and shiny."

Looking at the young girl through the mirror, Beth says, "What are you talking about? Your hair is a beautiful shade of brown. Be proud of who you are." -Beth paused before she continued- "My father often told me that if you don't have pride in yourself then others will not respect you. Be happy with what you have but remain humble about it at the same time. So, Norma, tell me that you are happy to be who you are."

Norma stopped in her brushing and met Beth's eyes through the mirror. The biggest smile spread upon the teenage-girl's lips before she agreed with the young woman.

Eventually, Beth walk through the Valley and returning home to her little cottage. She stepped past her white gate to then stopped in front of that lone tree in her yard. The candle in the lantern burned brightly and illuminated upon Beth's face, creating strong shadows in the dark of the night. Rigid and uncertain, she clenched her fists and felt those stinging tears threatening so harshly.

"Why?" She asked openly and looked directly at the tree before peering at the ground below. "Why did you not give this land to me in your will? You making it so I can't see what was written in your will until five years from now made me appear a fool. What was the point of you saying I don't inherit this property when I couldn't possibly know? Did you expect me to leave this place, my home? Did you think I was that _heartless?_" Beth screamed the last part before she fell on her knees with grief. She hand delicately smoothed across the crisp grass and then she scooted closer to fix the wilted flowers in the vase. Then she whispered desperately, "Am I not your daughter?"

Afterwards, a tiny orange hand rested against her back in comfort.

* * *

_A/N: So, I've been receiving this question a lot by you guys, "When will we get some romance?" The romance in this story is going to be handled very slow, especially considering how these two people (Once-ler and Beth) perceive each other. It's going to be rather hard to love someone right off the bat when they took everything from you. In layman's terms, it will be a rocky ride from here. But the romance will be there, have no doubt! It will start picking up after several chapters after this court decision. I wanna keep you all on your toes as to where this story is going. _

_Thank you all for reading guys! Next chapter we will all see who will win this court case. _


	17. Chapter 17: Oh No!

_A/N: Greetings pimps! ______Thanks for the reviews, favorites, follows, and/or stopping by to read this. I really appreciate it guys and you all are amazing! Meant to have this uploaded Sunday but I was staying at my grandparents' and they, unfortunately, do not have internet. This chapter title is from Marina and the Diamond's song Oh No. Truly that's one of my new favorite songs and Marina has became a new favorite musical artist. Also I feel like that song fits the Once-ler perfectly. Shortest chapter so far guys. Sorry. _Happy reading!

_**DISCLAIMER!:**_**_ I DON'T OWN ANY OF THE LORAX CHARACTERS! ALL RIGHTS GO TO DR. SEUSS AND ILLUMINATION ENTERTAINMENT!_**

* * *

The Hanging Tree

Chapter 17:

Oh No!

* * *

_"My greatest skill in life has been to want but little." - Henry David Thoreau_

Staring snootily through eyeglasses that practically consumed most of her face, Priscilla held an envelope between two manicured fingers. Mr. Clark gave the Thneed company receptionist an awkward, nervous smile before swiftly snatching the paper from her. He ran a hand through his gelled brown-hair and blown air out the mouth.

"Thank you, Priscilla," Clark said. Then he briskly walked over to the elevator.

When seated at his forest-green desk, he looked closely at the emerald envelope and the sparkling gold calligraphy that shone 'Clark.' A brow quirked and short, chubby fingers popped the seal to then pull out a crisp sheet of paper.

It read:

_"Dear Mr. Clark,_

_I, the Once-ler, cordially invite you attend the court decision of the case regarding the property of Bethany Arbore on the 18th of January at one o'clock P.M. If you are present during court, your pay will not be deducted. It is only assumed that since you were the instigator for the landscaping of the Truffula Valley that you would want to see if Thneed Co. is successful in obtaining the Arbore land._

_Once again, the date is January 18th at 1 P.M. at the Greenville City Hall, room 174._

_Truly,_

_The Once-ler"_

Clark scratched at his temple and re-read the letter once more. He muttered lowly, "Why would he want me to come to this now if it is the court decision?"

Regardless of this spontaneous request, he had a slight feeling that it was best to bare witness. The whole situation between the Arbore girl and the Once-ler circulated throughout the factory. Every employee, from janitor to executive, spoke of it and spit out a fiery opinion in every direction. For Clark, he was not very fond of discussing the court battle; mostly to avoid hazardous arguing.

During one particular evening, right before closing hours, Clark got interrogated by several of the labor men. They asked straightforward questions pertaining to Ms. Arbore's location. So since the men had came to the conclusion that the girl wanted to overthrow the Once-ler's business, they wanted to mainly spook and intimidate her. They wanted to make her think twice about ever threatening their jobs.

Completely astounded by these men's intentions, Clark defiantly refused to rely any information on the Arbore residence. Of course the men had called him a traitor to Thneed, but it did not matter. It was horrid that these people would believe such rumors. He only could assume that the Once-ler was handling this more civilized than that of his employees. Certainly, the young entrepreneur would not be as bloodthirsty and conniving.

_'He's rich, not evil.'_

Clark would constantly tell himself that every day; right after he'd pass the cartoon-y sign of the Once-ler when exiting Thneedville.

For the rest of the week and the next, everything proceeded as usual. On Thursday, Clark

received a summons from the Once-ler wanting his presence immediately. Ever the tireless people pleaser, Clark hurried to the west wing that occupied his boss's office. As he trailed down the endless red-rug, Once-ler's mother watched him pass and the twin brother automatically opened the doors when he stopped before them. Clearing his throat, he waited until Once-ler allowed him to sit.

"You wished to see me, sir?" Uttered Clark.

"Yes, I did," Once-ler confirmed. "First off, I want to know if you had gotten my letter?"

"The one requesting my presence to your court decision," Clark question but then quickly answered, "Yes, sir. I got it."

Cerulean-blue eyes regarded Mr. Clark when asked, "And, are you attending?"

"Well, I figured I ought to, Mr. Once-ler," He replied, while briefly wondering if this is what this surprised meeting was about.

"Good, good." Once-ler gave out a quiet hum and then stated, "Now I would like to make arrangements about cutting down the trees on Ms. Arbore's property. That is, if the court goes in my favor." -There was a secret smile that Mr. Clark barely caught.- "Better be prepared for whatever outcome there will be, eh?"

"Of course, sir," Clark mindlessly agreed.

"Now I want my best lumbermen, the Super-Axe-Hackers, and a bulldozer ready. The court would most likely grant her a couple days for her to move out," Once-ler said as he signed several papers. "I don't want to see a trace of that homely little cottage on my valley. Is that clear, Mr. Clark?"

"Crystal," breathed Clark.

The Once-ler looked back up at him with those shockingly blue eyes and said, "Perfect. You may return back to work and send out the notifications to the lumbermen. Have someone contact a place that will allow us to rent out a bulldozer as well."

"Goodbye, Mr. Once-ler," Clark politely said and almost rushed towards the doors.

Friday, January eighteenth, Clark filed into the courtroom in the back pews. Quickly, Mr. Clark caught sight of dirty-blonde hair, tan skin, and a feminine body clothed in farmer's apparel. This oddly placed woman sat on the opposite side of the room from the Once-ler.

_'This must be Ms. Arbore,'_ Concluded the man and stared in wonder at the young woman who dared to defy. He had never seen Bethany Arbore's true appearance. There was no picture on the tenant documents nor had he read any of the news articles. In all that he heard, he had not pictured her so tiny.

Not very long, Judge Waterloo strolled into the courtroom and seated himself at the stand. The whole courtroom became hushed immediately afterwards. Then he commanded both parties to stand for attention. The stern judge began to read off the court declaration.

"It has been decided and stated here on January eighteenth, that in regards to the Eminent Domain case between Ms. Bethany Arbore and Thneed Co., has ruled that the property, once owned by the late Gregori Arbore, does not fall unto Ms. Bethany Arbore's ownership and therefore belongs entirely to the Once-ler and his Thneed company. Ms. Arbore is granted three days to remove herself completely from the Truffula Valley. Courtroom dismissed."

When Mr. Clark peered over at Ms. Arbore's side, it appear that whatever shred of hope remaining had been burnt out. Her attorney did not even attempt to comfort the girl but, instead, seemed to have made a quick escape to the exit. The young woman remained in her seat of despair and spiraled further into her personal tragedy.

OoOo

Often of time, Once-ler would wonder if what he was doing, how he was handling his business was truly a bad thing. He has almost everything he ever wanted, his family is with him, and lately the Lorax has not came to nag. Now to add to the list of pleasantries, Once-ler won. That was that, and him winning was all that matter. At least, for the moment.

* * *

_A/N: Ta-da! That's it for the first part of this story! Now don't you worry, there is plenty more coming. It isn't over between the Once-ler and Beth. Also it's been a while since we last seen Mr. Clark. To be honest, I didn't even know how to start this chapter off (I knew what it was going to be over of course) so, I decided to kick start it with our miserably under-appreciated Mr. Clark. _

_Now was this outcome what you all expected of this court ordeal? I am so ready to be writing this second half of the story! You have no idea. _

_Thank you for reading and have a nice day. _


	18. Chapter 18: The Fighter

_A/N: Long time no see, my lovelies. ________Thanks for the reviews, favorites, follows, and/or stopping by to read this. I absolutely love you all! Now why is it that every time I think I'm getting back on schedule with updating this, something always has to come up? To give a brief explanation to my absence is due to lack of internet and a certain company being a big pain the rear! Good thing that it's fixed and hopefully there won't be any more problems. This chapter actually went through a lot of different titles. At one point it was The White Stripes' Seven Nation Army but then I thought Gym Class Heroes' The Fighter fit this better because, well, Beth is a fighter. Also, I told you all that this wasn't over yet. There's still more to this story. Happy reading!_

_**DISCLAIMER!:**_**_ I DON'T OWN ANY OF THE LORAX CHARACTERS! ALL RIGHTS GO TO DR. SEUSS AND ILLUMINATION ENTERTAINMENT!_**

* * *

The Hanging Tree

Chapter 18:

The Fighter

* * *

_"Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless and heartless?" - Charlotte Bronte, 'Jane Eyre'_

Three days. That was the amount of time Beth received. Not that she really needed it. In fact, with the amount of personals that she sold during the court dispute, it would have taken less than half a day to move out. But Beth hung around, lingered about. Before she knew it, it soon became the third day.

As she sat outside in the chill, she briefly wondered where she'd go. She knew making arrangements for a new home in Greenville (or, dare even, Thneedville) would be most wise, however, something deep within made her dawdle. Parting from this house, her home, was difficult and no court ruling could tear her away from it.

The sounds of the machinery and crash of the fallen trees grew closer the more she listened. Just ahead of Beth, she could see their silhouettes being cut down from their proud stance and descending downward. They would be barreling down her defenseless fence soon.

Beth then lifted herself from crouching and ventured around the stone cottage. It did not surprise her to see the Lorax and forest animals waiting on her.

After the ruling, Beth returned to her Truffula Valley home swiftly and -regretfully- vented out the entire case declaration. Obviously, the Lorax was not pleased. Still the speaker patted Beth on her much larger hand.

"You did your best," he assured. "You were completely noble during this whole thing. You got guts, kid, by standin' up to that meathead."

Beth had given him a weak smile, but it faltered.

Now, there weren't any smiles for this was not a warm hearted moment; no good would ever return from here on out.

Kneeling to the Lorax's level, Beth waited as he walked over to her. He stuck out his orange fuzzy hand and gave a good shake when she clasped it. Beth wanted to apologize again, yet the words remained lodged in the back of her throat. So, instead, the young woman watched the mystical Lorax and pollution beaten animals disappear within the Truffula Forest. They would remain hidden as much as possible. It would be a miracle if they somehow all survived. After the last bar-ba-loot vanished out of her sight range, Beth stood up once more.

From within the stable, a whinny cried out. Melvin fretted anxiously as he could sense the human-girl's distress. Beth unlatched the stable door and then tied a rope to the mule's harness. She led Melvin out beyond her white fence and in the direction the Lorax went. Coming to a halt after fifty paces, Beth started to unhook the harness.

"I'm sorry we must part this way," Beth said to Melvin. He only stared at her working hands. "I would sale you in town to a good owner, but, I'm afraid you're not truly mine to give away. Yet I can't take you with me -wherever I may end up. So this is my only solution." She held the rope and harness in her hands. The girl guestered out towards the open land of the valley. "Go. I'm not restraining you anymore."

Beth could not say if it broke her heart or not when the mule began to trek away from her. He seemed to go without a care and he did not look back. The imprints from his hooves joined the others within the snow.

When night came and after Beth ate her dinner, she laid in her bed staring at the ceiling. Sleep did not come that night. Tomorrow is suppose to be when they come to destroy her home. That left a heavy rock to settled within her stomach. It was expected for her to be absent, but she would stay despite the pain. She had that much of the right.

OoOo

A loud thrum, a vibration caused the glass on the windows and furniture to rattle. Beth's eyes snapped open from a dreamless slumber and alarm caused her to sit upright. Fighting out of the restraints of her quilt, she stumbled about on the quaking floor and clumsily attempted to clamber down the ladder. Halfway down, the ladder toppled over with a sharp clatter; causing Beth to land in a heap and smart her right shoulder on the hardwood floor. Hissing in her pain and clutching her shoulder to rid away the sparks from agitated nerves.

While pushing herself up off the ground, the rumbling stopped completely to a low hum. She went to look out the front window and narrowed her eyes at the sight of the Super-Axe-Hackers, Thneed lumbermen, a bulldozer, and the very distinctive Jolly Green Giant billionaire. The Once-ler, stupid sunglasses and all, stepped down from the front Super-Axe-Hacker with a confident smirk plastered to his round face.

_'They're here early,'_ she thought,_ 'but why did he come too? Wouldn't he leave the dirty work to his lackeys?'_

Her tan hands brought her nightgown closer to her chest as realization dawned that she wasn't even properly dressed. Was there still time to change, she briefly wondered but then concluded: no there was not. They would probably begin tearing the cottage down with her in it if she did not make her presence known. So with tugging on both her bathrobe, then parka and work boots, Beth opened her door slowly before facing the harsh wind and penetrating stares.

"Tell me," came the Once-ler's enraged and disbelieving tone across the yard, "why you are still here, Ms. Arbore?"

For a second, she contemplated if the fowl man deserved an explanation but she came to a reasonable conclusion. It was best to cooperate with him and not cause any more problems. With a heavy sigh that became visible in the winter chill, began to explain herself.

"This is still my home, Once-ler. No court ruling can take away that fact. There is also the fact that I deserve to be here as much as you do."

He gave a low "hmmm" and a gloved index finger rubbed his upper lip in thought. Cerulean-blue eyes took in her well hidden figure and tousled wild hair. Finally, he gave a slight dismissive wave of the hand and said, "If that's what the loser wants. Who am I to pass up a chance for her to bare witness to claiming my trophy. Tell me, will there be goodbye tears to shed?"

Glaring at the Once-ler's mocking, Beth retorted without a beat. "I don't have to take that from a man who is prancing around as if he's a posh royal. When in reality you're just a small, tiny man that's on a plastic high horse. In fact, you're not even a real man. You're nothing but a little boy playing dress up and pretend."

Once-ler felt his teeth begin to grind and a vein in his temple pulse fiercely. And here he thought he was being generous.

He then said in a seething whispered voice, "I will enjoy watching every single stone from that cottage crumble along with your _precious_ memories, Ms. Arbore. So get comfortable. It's going to be a bumpy ride."

Thankfully, Beth was given a few minutes to gather her suitcase and any other items she wished to take. All the workers tried to pretend the young woman did not exist as they began to prep the bulldozer. She stood at a distance with the Once-ler and most of the lumber men as the other workers took sledgehammers to the stone. Every man put in their muscle while destroying a place that was once considered a safe haven. When metal collided against the stone, a deafeningly loud slam resounded throughout the Valley. It tore down everything that Beth considered to be her comfort zone and made her feel so unprotected.

Was this what it felt like for the bar-ba-loots, swomme-swans, and humming-fish to watch helplessly as their habitat, their home, be demolished barbarically?

Then the crawler sluggishly closed in on the defenceless cottage. The large metal plate took down what the men could not and brought the house to nothing but rubble. A couple men whacked away the white picket fence. Once all the slamming of the hamming ceased, all became silent. Beth knew that those sounds nor the sight would never leave her subconscious.

"Good work men." Of course the silence had to be broken by the Once-ler. "Let's get some Super-Axe-Hackers over to the right of there and some over there too. I want this place clean, you all hear me!" Turning swiftly to one lumberman that Beth actually recognize (Samuel Yertle), Once-ler called towards him, "You! I want you and your group to take down the surrounding trees manually by axe."

Suddenly, panic attacked Beth's heart when a lumberman headed straight towards a certain truffula tree.

"No," Beth whispered to herself and with nimble feet, she rushed over in a flurry.

"No! Stop!" She yelled desperately. The unsuspecting Thneed worker readied the axe up over his shoulder like a professional baseball player. Coming to a halt mid-swing when Bethany flung her body towards the tree. Faintly she heard the sound of the small vase and lantern fall over, but that did not matter for the girl's dark eyes stared defiantly up at the blade of the axe. She felt her muscles tense while clinging to the trunk of the tree.

"What's going on?" Came the Once-ler's grating voice.

"She just latched onto the tree, boss," Replied the confused lumberer.

Once-ler rolled his eyes while commanding, "Don't just stand there! Make her let go!"

Doing as instructed, the worker attempted to remove Beth. First, trying to make her arms unwind from around the tree. However, that proved fruitless as Beth only held on tighter.

While watching the whole exchange from afar, the Once-ler grew impatient and hollered at a couple other workers. "Help him apprehend the girl from that tree!"

The men nodded and scurried over there. With the group of the men's strength, they managed to tug Beth away from the tree. They each had a hold of her legs and arms, however, the young woman fought and screamed against them. Underestimating the girl's strength, the workers struggled to maintain a solid grip due to her violent thrashing. Eventually, they all let her go and she fell to the ground with a distressing 'thud.'

Despite having the wind knocked out of her, Beth pushed herself up and, fast as she could, returned to that particular tree. This time, she wrapped both her arms and legs around the trunk. With the dull ache in her chest and the soreness in her throat, Beth rose her voice enough for the Once-ler to hear.

"If you want this tree then you're just going to have to cut me down along with it!"

The young entrepreneur's right hand twitched and his eyes flicked over to a lone axe momentarily before he stomped over to Beth. He loomed above and peered down his nose at her like she was a bug he intended squish.

_'Too good to be on my level, huh?'_

"Your show of defiance was quite funny and cute the first go round but now this is getting annoying," He stated with the same amount of venom that Beth held in her glare. "Let go of the tree, Ms. Arbore."

There was no second thought as one word tumbled through her full pink lips, "No."

In the darkest sets of the Once-ler's mind, he knew that it be quick and easy to rid himself completely of the wretched woman at this very moment. Yet he also knew that it would not be right. Call him cowardly but that is one line he could not cross.

Instead, he balled his fists, snarled, and yelled, "If being stranded to this tree is what you want, then so be it!" -Then he addressed the Thneed workers authoritatively.- "From here on out, I want someone out here keeping watch until she is willing to be removed. Without having food or water, she's gonna have to some day."

Anger radiating off the Thneed inventor, the crowd of lumberers parted as he stormed off. All the while Bethany tighten her grip and ignored the burning stares from the circled men.

* * *

_A/N: And that was the first installment of part 2. Where will this story go now? Hehehe...well that's for me to know and you all to find out! (does evil laugh and then get into a fit of coughing)_

_And I hope most of you remember who Samuel Yertle is. He's like from chapter 6 (though he was not given a name then) and he showed up again in chapter 12. _

_Anyways, I love Game of Thrones now. That is all. Have a super awesome day! _


	19. Chapter 19: Yesterday Is Here

_A/N: What's up? __________Thanks for the reviews, favorites, follows, and/or stopping by to read this. No one can ever replace you all because OMG! LOOK! A 100 reviews! I never thought I'd ever make it to that before. Thank you all again, especially those that have been sticking to this story since the beginning. You all are awesome! :) The dialogue that's italicized is suppose to mean that they are speaking in another language (with this case, Italian). Also, I know you've all been asking about her, we have a special guest here. Treat her kindly everyone. This chapter title is Tom Waits's Yesterday Is Here. Much like the last chapter, I had a hard time choosing a song to be the title (before choosing this one it was The Temptation's My Girl). But I feel that this song's name shows what is about to occur in these next couple chapters. Happy reading._

_**DISCLAIMER!:**_**_ I DON'T OWN ANY OF THE LORAX CHARACTERS! ALL RIGHTS GO TO DR. SEUSS AND ILLUMINATION ENTERTAINMENT!_**

* * *

The Hanging Tree

Chapter 19:

Yesterday Is Here

* * *

_"Never look back unless you are planning to go that way." - Henry David Thoreau_

Beth did not remember anything of her mother. The only information that Gregori gave to his daughter was that her mother had died after giving birth and her name, Dorothea.

She had been a weak bodied woman, ever since she was young. However, Dorothea was a stunning sight to see; long, thick dark hair that she always kept braided, a natural tan complexion, and a slender, slinky figure that could kill any man in his tracks if he saw her; that is, if they ever saw her. In an odd way, Dorothea became Greenville's whispered "urban myth" due to her staying confined within Little Lola's House for Girls and Young Women. No family to turn to, Dorothea actually grew up without any, unless you wanted to count the girls at the House. It will sound cliche, but Dorothea was found on the doorstep of Little Lola's within a basket and only a note saying 'Dorothea.' She got considered exotic by the people of Greenville, which did not always get looked at so fondly.

For circumstances with Gregori, he had the awkward dealings with being a foreigner and settling down in a small town; he was fifteen when he came to Greenville. His accent was thick, and pronunciation jumbled, and other kids would always giggle (adults did too some times) when he spoke. This often made others to assume his intellect to be very low, despite his high grades. Being tall and possessing a body built that promised burliness in the future, left him sticking out among his classmates. It also did not ease the embarrassment when all of Greenville knew of his foreign Italian family, the Arbores.

After graduating high school, Gregori attended the small college in Greenville and worked part-time in manually labor. It was when he had gotten called to repair some flooring for Little Lola's that he first seen Dorothea. He had been just removing the rotten wood from the floor, lifting it above his head, and there before him stood an angel; or what he assumed an angel would look like. He nearly knocked over the other workers when he rushed to the kitchen to calm his racing heart. One could say that he had been struck by Cupid in that moment.

Dorothea had just walked down the stairs and when she caught sight of the men, a burning blush spread prettily along her cheeks. Men weren't really allowed in the House very often so, Dorothea was not accustom to them. Instead of joining her friends' chatter about the muscular men at work, Dorothea dashed into the kitchen. That's when she ran into Gregori. He was just coming out of the kitchen when almost barreled the tiny girl down. Luckily, he caught her wrist and neither person said a word.

Deep within, Gregori knew he felt an intense, burning connection to this girl.

Several weeks later the whole town was abuzz about the courtship between Gregori and Dorothea.

OoOo

The first night was harsh. During the bone shaking gusts of wind, Beth felt as if death could take her any minute now. Her arms ached from the awkward position of being wrapped around the tree trunk. There was this annoying crick in her neck. Then also her bottom became numb from the cold ground and her legs tingled like pins and needles. These consequences were expected and she knew she could not back out now; this was her metaphorical bed that she made and she must lie in it.

Morning came (she thinks) and a vehicle's rumble stirred Beth from a short-lived nap. The young woman watched as the teenaged boy, Samuel Yertle, hop down from the Thneed truck. He knocked on the window of the white van of the man who had been on watch. Within, the man woke and gazed over at Sam. He grumbled something over his breath while he placed a bowler hat on top his head.

Rolling down the window, the man grouched out, "Yeah?"

"It's my shift, sir," politely answered Sam. "You can head home for the rest of the day."

"Yeah they better let me go home," he mumbled as he turned on the ignition, "that dame hasn't budged, boy! Do us all a favor and try to convince her to let go of that damn tree."

Sam snorted and said, "Some would actually considered this to be an easy job."

"Those that are looking for easy work should not be workin' for the Once-ler at all." The man then backed up before turning towards the direction of the Thneed factory.

She watched the teenager for several minutes before leaning her head against the tree and her eyes closed again. Already, Beth could feel the soreness ebbing its way throughout her cranium and face. She kept weaving in and out of consciousness like a needle through fabric. Only gaining enough slumber for less than fifty seconds. A cold chill always pulling her away from the bliss of rest.

When it felt like ages had passed since having closed her eyes, another vehicle softly shook the ground. Sam closed his book and rolled down his window to talk to the new fellow. Beth could not hear a word they said, nor did she particularly cared. The growling emptiness in the pit of her stomach and dry throat demanded her complete attention.

Sam gave her one final glance for his shift before driving off.

OoOo

_"You look so handsome,"_ crooned the elderly Mrs. Arbore while taking Gregori's face in her wrinkled hands; causing the giant-of-a-man to dramatically bend down to her level. In a full-body mirror reflected Gregori in a black tuxedo and his sandy-blonde hair gelled back.

_"Thank you, mother."_ He smiled affectionately at the older woman. His thumb came up to wipe an escaped tear from her face.

With his father's death still fresh in his mind, her frail body gave Gregori a constant reminder of her oncoming rest. Both his parents had finally been successful to have a child by their mid-thirties after a long series of miscarriages. A pleasant (and rather painful) surprise in his large healthy size during birth, he grew up being an only child to the Arbore's.

Both mother and son turned towards the door when young man in a matching tux poked his head through the entryway. He announce, "It's time, Gregori."

The blonde man straighten out his tux coat, looked briefly over at his smiling mother, and without wasting any further time, Gregori started towards his wedding. He did not want to keep his bride waiting. Finally after three years since Gregori had met Dorothea, he was able to claim her as his wife. He thought nothing could ever bring him this much happiness.

After a couple days since their wedding, a draft had been sent out and Gregori had been called to duty for war.

OoOo

Within the Once-ler's green infested office, the young entrepreneur puffed angrily on his cigar. Brow furrowed in a brood, black hair sticking out in odd directions, and slightly slouched in his caulostal chair, Mr. Clark tried to keep his critical eye hidden. He wisely chose to staring at the documents in his hand.

The recent news on the Arbore girl had already circulated throughout the factory and Mr. Clark waited expectantly for a requested meeting with the Once-ler. Immediately after arriving, his boss vented out the entire situation and even cursed the poor girl. Then, after pacing during his whole rant, the Once-ler collapsed back into the red velvet seat.

"Can you believe it?" huffed Once-ler. "She seemed to be perfectly fine during the whole thing until she freaked out over _that_ one tree. I just don't get it. If she was wanting to save the forest then why didn't she make a fuss about all of them? That woman's got a loose screw, I tell ya."

Clark remained silent for several seconds. Then he decided to speak for the first time since being called to Once-ler's office.

"Mr. Once-ler," -Said man peered up at his employee.- "if it is alright for me to ask, but did you even read the documents over the Arbore property?"

"Of course I did," Once-ler replied slowly.

Mr. Clark could not suppress the disbelieving expression and that look seemed to serve to do the trick. A scowl crawled upon Once-ler's face, yet he still fidgeted sheepishly.

"Okay," He began and threw his hands up in the air, "I skimmed them!"

"Mr. Once-ler!" Protested Clark disappointingly.

The billionaire rolled his eyes and cried, "Oh, don't even start. I've been very busy with other important things. I didn't have time to read them when you had given them to me."

"I did not expect you to be the type to make up excuses, sir," Clark chided his boss much like an adult would to a child.

Right eye twitching in agitation and mouth pressed into a hard line, Once-ler thrusted out his gloved hand.

"Give me those documents," He ordered.

Failing once again to hide his emotions, Mr. Clark smirked smugly while he passed the documents over to his boss.

"I'm sure this will answer all your questions, sir."

OoOo

It ended, finally, after five years and returning home sounded like pure heaven for Gregori. War had been cruel and was not at all what people made it out to be; there was nothing glorious about it. He felt rather lucky to have made it out unscathed, except for the occasionally cut or bruise.

Once arriving in Greenville, Gregori stepped off the blue bus along with several other soldiers. Quickly spotting a feminine small frame dressed in a red dress, he briskly walked over to the tiny woman. He stopped short and stood proudly in front of her. A large grin could not stop itself from growing on his face and she only complimented his with a smile of relief.

Dorothea had never really be one to broadcast strong emotions publically.

Gregori had gotten resettled in his late-mother's house, along with Dorothea. Before long, like few months later, his wife relieved happy news. It had turned out that Dorothea was pregnant.

At an unfortunate turn of her pregnancy, Gregori's love started show severe signs. Her weak body could not take it and for the next four months before the due date, Dorothea remained at the Greenville hospital.

Gregori Arbore was a strong man in all sense of the word; he had been able to deal with constant bullying due to his ethnicity throughout his life and he'd coped well with his parents' death. To be honest, he did not think anything could compare to the feeling of losing either parents.

In the waiting room, it was a wonder as to how Gregori had not worn a path in the floor due to him going to and fro. Worry creased his squarish face when he could no longer hear her pained wails. After what felt like eternity, a nurse came out of the delivery room solemnly. If he had not been so tall she would have spared him further by whispering in his ear. Instead she quietly told him what just occurred.

They left him alone with her for only ten minutes; though he believed that if he had been given all the time in the world, it would still not be enough. Gregori held Dorothea's cold hand and looked upon her face. Once a healthy bronze complexion had now lost several shades. Her hair, he took notice, had lost its shine as well. He wept on her hand and begged her to come back.

When his time drew to an end, a different nurse came into the room and reluctantly took him away from Dorothea's deceased body. The nurse then proceed to tell him the excellent health of his new baby girl.

"Would you like to see her, Mr. Arbore?"

He stared at the nurse for a moment before giving a small nod.

In the nursery, rows and rows of resting babies went passed Gregori as he followed the nurse. She stopped at a tiny bed and checked the information twice before smiling sadly at him.

"Here she is," she whispered.

Stepping over tentatively, the large man peered down at the flaring pink skinned baby. She was wrapped in a pink blanket to keep her tiny, sensitive body warm. Then the nurse delicately lifted up this girl and smiled warmly at Gregori.

"Would you like to hold her?" She quietly asked. He gave a simple nod and cautiously took the child.

"Mind her head," cautioned the nurse.

And Gregori did by cradling her with his large hands. Everything about her was tiny; from her little button nose to her toes. Gazing upon her plump round face, he already knew she would look like her mother. Before he knew it, -and much to his nervousness- the baby-girl stirred awake. She blurrily looked up at him and, as father and child meet one another for the first time, Gregori realized that she was _his_; this was_ his daughter_.

"Did you and your -um- wife ever discussed a name for your daughter?" Asked the nurse as she waited patiently with a clipboard and pencil in hand.

"Yes," Gregori answered softly, "she wanted to name her Bethany."

Gregori knew he had a new purpose in life as he continued to hold his daughter, Bethany Arbore.

* * *

_A/N: I love writing scenes where Mr. Clark and the Once-ler interact. I like to think there's this uneasy friendship forming between them. _


	20. Chapter 20: The House That Built Me

_A/N: Howdy! ____________Thanks for the reviews, favorites, follows, and/or stopping by to read this. You're all wonderful and you __guarantee have my love. This chapter title is from Miranda Lambert's The House That Built Me. This song always reminds me of my grandparents' place because that's the only stationary place that I know. I grew up a lot there. Happy reading!_

_**DISCLAIMER!:**_**_ I DON'T OWN ANY OF THE LORAX CHARACTERS! ALL RIGHTS GO TO DR. SEUSS AND ILLUMINATION ENTERTAINMENT!_**

* * *

The Hanging Tree

Chapter 20:

The House That Built Me

* * *

_"Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth." - Henry David Thoreau, 'Walden: Or, Life in the Woods'_

Night time had finally settled and the bright stars twinkled above the slumbering town of Greenville. Within the late-Arbore's house, the Italian man sat heavily in his office chair. His strong hands came up to rub his tired eyes before he rest them against the hardwood of his desk. He had just lain Bethany down to rest after calming her down from an angry fit.

When Gregori brought her home from the hospital a couple weeks ago, Bethany proved to be more than a hand full. Already, she was showing signs of having a sour temperament. Which he found odd, considering how both him and Dorothea were textbook definitions of mild-mannered people.

But it was a relief to have her finally resting and not disrupting his progress. Cracking his knuckles and then picking up his pen, Gregori set to work on writing his analysis. So far he only had notes on the exploration and expansion of the philosophy over conformity. How does one create an identity when so many create one for you; or can you be content with everyone's approval when you do conform; or how does one separate themselves from the destruction of conformity, he wonders? Conformity, individuality, isolation were his three major topics he always discussed within his writing.

To both his parents' surprise and dismay, Gregori majored in creative writing and philosophy when he attended the college in Greenville. By the time of graduation, he already published a book analyzing the relationship revolving around nature and humanity. Here he analyzed the Truffula Valley, it's trees, and fauna. To the people of Greenville, the Valley held great value towards these magnificent trees. So if someone were to cut one down it was considered blasphemous.

It was this kind of analysis that garnered him attention from the people of Greenville. Before he knew it (and a little help from his parents), half the town had read his book. They praised him and told him what a brilliant young man he had become; and these were the same people who had teased him.

In the midst of writing a new essay on a the exploration of human existence, it got abruptly put on hold while he was sent away due to the draft. During this war, Gregori began to write down new theories and analyzed different situations he witnessed.

_How valuable was a human life? _He often pondered while hiding away in the muddy trenches.

_Was there any value if we are so willing to take away another's life in the means of war?_

There was nothing glorious or romantic about war.

Personality wise, Gregori knew he could not ever be meant on the battlefield. But now there were things he'd seen that he could never remove from his mind. Once he returned home, and back into the loving arms of Dorothea, alcohol began appealing to him more often than naught.

While sitting at his desk, the brawny man looked over at the bottle of whiskey and shot glasses nestled between his large law book and the eighth volume on Eastern philosophy. When reaching out to it, Gregori stopped mid action and quickly shook his head.

"Think about her," he breathed and returned back to writing.

OoOo

By the second day, Beth felt fatigue from the lack of nourishment and warmth. The only thing she could do was keep her eyes close to pass time. Her arms still remained around the tree trunk, but they did not hold on as tightly as before; her arms were so weary now.

There had been four men who has shown up that day. Most of them had paid no mind to her, but this fourth man who was currently leaning against the Thneed truck's hood. He could be considered handsome by his rugged features and broad chest and shoulders; to Beth, he was what was imagined by the phrase 'devilish good looks.'

While toying with the toothpick in his mouth, he unashamedly leered at Beth. Not looking at him entirely, she kept him in peripheral vision to be safe. Taking the toothpick out of his mouth, he began to make cooing and clicking noises to try to gain her attention.

_'Don't look at him,'_ Beth chided herself,_ 'that's exactly what he wants.'_

But against her better judgement, her dark eyes slid over to where the man stood. A smirk tugged at his lips.

"Hey there, little honey," He crooned as he gave a slight tip of his hat. "You're prettier than what people have been sayin'. Why don't you come over here?"

Beth only diverted her eyes to the left and lifted her lip in a scowl.

"Aw, now, don't be that way," He started and would have made his way over to Bethany, but stopped when he saw another Thneed truck arriving. Releasing a breath she did not realize she was holding, Beth tried to calm her racing heart. She rested her temple against the bark of the tree.

Sam Yertle stepped out and looked suspiciously at the other man. Then Sam walked over to him and said, "Your shift is over now. Head back to the factory."

The man huffed and eyed the teenager critically before replying. "Whatever you say, kid."

Then he left in his own truck; leaving Sam and Beth alone. Her eyes remained staring at the snowy ground before her. She heard the crunching of his foots as he headed back to his car and the opening and closing of the door. Only after a few seconds did she look up and saw that he was sitting behind the wheel while reading a different book than last time.

An hour had passed and with each minute turning over, the rumbling of emptiness shook consistently, relentlessly. Forcing images of food to the back of her mind and yet she still felt the reminding cramp double her over. Even the snow looked appetizing at that moment, but she knew it contained toxins.

All of a sudden, the young man opened the car door and planted both his feet onto the ground. He did not step away from his vehicle just yet, and then a popping sound echoed loudly with a fizzle followed soon after. That even out crunching of feet pushing through the snow got closer and closer by every second. Her heart felt like it dropped before it came back up again and began to pound tremendously in her ears. His black boots halted in front of her. Bending down, both Sam and Beth made eye contact; to which she quickly put on a brave face.

However, there was no need for Beth to put up a defense. The only thing that Sam did was place an uncapped soda-bottle right next to her. Surprised, she peered over at the glass bottle filled with the sugary dark-brown liquid. Then her dark eyes trailed up to watch the retreating backside of Sam.

Not once did he look back to see if she took the drink and instead picked up his book to continue where he left off. She waited several minutes; constantly looking back at the soda bottle and then at Sam.

Finally, once making sure again that the teenager was not looking, Beth snatched up the bottle and downed the beverage without relent.

OoOo

"I would love nothing more than for you and me to live out there," she whispered to him in the dark, "without fear and worry of others. We would be safe."

When Dorothea had still been alive, she spoke of this dream she's had since she was a small child. To live and seek refuge in the Truffula Valley would be an absolute paradise, she often stated.

"You want to build what in the Valley?"

So this is where Gregori found himself one day, inside the office of Greenville's mayor. The town's elected official had been a short, portly ginger haired man and usually seen with a cigar resting lazily between his teeth. He had a gruff disposition with a bit of country flavor added in the mix.

Gregori looked down at the magazine cutout of a cottage in his hand before he answered the mayor, "I would like to build a small house for my daughter and me to live in."

He leaned back into his chair, and blew smoke out his nostrils. "Son, you know that the Truffula Valley is owned by no one."

"Sir," Gregori began, "I thought that coming to you would help me. I'm not asking to own the whole forest. Just an acre or two would suffice."

When the mayor looked skeptical, to which Gregori quickly tried to change.

"And I swear that I will not chop down any trees," he finished, looking the mayor straight in the eye. "I know the lore of the Lorax."

The mayor made a noise in the back of his throat and then said, "This isn't about some ol' wives' tale. Why exactly do you want to live out there?"

"It was my wife's dream," Gregori confessed with a sad smile, "I feel that would be only right to honor that."

Releasing a sigh, the mayor replied. "I'll have a tenant granting you permission to own an acre of land out in the Truffula Valley. That is all, Mr. Arbore."

"Oh, thank you!" Gregori exclaimed and quickly rounded the mayor's desk to bring him into a bone crushing hug. "Thank you, thank you!"

Grunting, the mayor protested and eventually managed to get the young father to let him go.

Thus began the building of Dorothea's ideal cottage in the Truffula forest. He first started scouting out a perfect area to build this home and soon stumbled upon an open area wide enough to allow for the construction. A new treaded path was made by Gregori and his cart as he went from the town to his secluded area.

Since chopping down the trees was out of the question, he sought out a new solution. Layers upon layers of stone compacted together. The only lumber that he used was purchased in town for the flooring and roof. Through Summer to Winter and only taking breaks during rainy or harsh weather, it took approximately a year and half to finish the little stone cottage.

Standing back from his finished project, Gregori grinned; proud to have accomplished this single handedly. He had built the cottage to be large enough to allow him stand straight without fear of bumping his head. It only contained a kitchen and the loft he installed was intended for his daughter; he would sleep below on the first floor and whenever he needed to work on a new analysis essay, he'd venture to the cellar. It only took another few months to place in a fence, a shed, a well, and the posts marking his acre of land.

Until he had placed all furniture inside the cottage, Gregori did not allow for Beth to be relocated to the cottage. It was mid-Spring when Gregori went to pick up his daughter from Little Lola's House. He had in trusted Beth in their care while he worked on honoring Dorothea; however, he was not expecting there to be hostile feelings.

"I can't believe you're actually going through with this, Arbore," hissed the House mistress, or Aunt Ada as the girls called her. She currently held Bethany in her arms as she glared at Gregori.

"Miss Ada," he began, but held his tongue when the middle aged woman suddenly got in his personal space.

"Do you really think that is a suitable environment to raise your child," Queried Aunt Ada. "And let's not forget that you're a wife-less man. You can't possibly raise this child all by yourself."

An old burning flame of anger ignited within the pit of Gregori's stomach. He looked defiantly down at Ada and squared his broad shoulders to then state, "I will raise my daughter by myself, despite what you say. You are in no position to tell me otherwise. Now, Ms. Ada, give me back Beth."

Hesitantly, Ada did hand over Beth. The child seemed to have relaxed once she was able to cling to her father. Gregori took noticed that she had grown quite a bit since he'd last seen. He put it in his mental list to buy her new clothes for later.

Just as Gregori was about to walk out with Beth in his arms Ada's voice stopped him.

"I suggest remarrying, Arbore. She needs to be around another woman or things are going to be complicated."

"She'll be just fine," was the last he had ever said to Aunt Ada and exited out Little Lola's.

Four years had passed since then and Beth held a woven basket. She pushed back long strands of hair away from her eyes while she waited patiently for her father to drop Truffula fruit from his high perch on the ladder.

"Here's another one, _piccolina_," called Gregori and then a bright red, round object fell towards Beth. She held out her basket and caught the fruit successfully. Then she casted a wide smile up at her father.

"I caught it!" She boasted proudly.

"That you did," He called back and gave a silly grin to make his daughter laugh.

This was a slower process than what he was use to, but it was helping teach Bethany how to help out around the house.

As the sun began to set in the horizon, Gregori and Beth carried the baskets back to the cottage. Lit candles and lanterns burned brightly inside and outside, keeping pesterous bugs away. Gregori sat in his chair out in their backyard with his harmonica snugly tucked in his right hand. Sitting in the opposite chair, Beth ate her dinner hungrily.

Once she finished and drank her glass of water in one take, Gregori asked, "So, what would you like to hear tonight?"

She wiped her mouth and then looked upward in thought.

"I don't know," She finally said. "You pick."

Without further ado, Gregori held up his harmonica to his mouth, looked over at Bethany's wistful gaze, winked, and then began a slow tune. The high pitched sound echoed longingly throughout the Valley and left a sense of wonderment in the night air. It was a tune that could only be meant to close out the day and put a very tired little girl to rest beneath the dark blanket of twinkling stars.

* * *

_A/N: So I had to deal with a creep this week and decided to make Beth suffer that uncomfortableness too. And in case some of you were wondering, yes this so called war that Gregori went through is suppose to be some Seussian equivalence to WW II and/or a little bit of WW I. _

_Now __I'm sure that this chapter is riddled with mistakes but I just don't care right now. I'll probably edit everything later. No Once-ler in this chapter. Sorry._

_Thank you for stopping by!_


End file.
